AJK Assembly yet to issue schedule for election of PM

MUZAFFARABAD: A session of Azad Jammu & Kashmir Legislative Assembly was adjourned yet again without any proceedings with regard to the election of the new leader of the house following the disqualification of Sardar Tanveer Ilyas.

On Tuesday, the deputy speaker adjourned the session soon after the recitation of the Holy Quran and Naat. The AJK Assembly was in session on the requisition of the opposition when former prime minister Sardar Tanveer Ilyas was disqualified following his conviction in the contempt case. Under the interim Constitution of Azad Jammu & Kashmir, in case, the office of PM falls vacant during the in-session house, it shall forthwith proceed to elect the new leader of the house setting aside the routine agenda.

Though the house put aside all other agenda on the very next day, the schedule for the election of the leader of the house could not be issued despite four sittings due to a split in the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).

Holding the majority in the AJK Legislative Assembly, the PTI-backed candidate was expected to become the leader of the house but the formation of a forward bloc, led by AJK President Sultan Mehmood Chaudhry, created complications for Imran Khan’s nominee.

According to sources, the forward bloc has the support of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N). However, Shah Ghulam Qadir, regional president of PMLN, said their alliance with the PPP was as per a “power-sharing formula.”

He added that they would vote for the PPP candidate for the leader of the house. However, the PPP did not take the PMLN into confidence during their negotiations with Barrister Sultan Chaudhry, nor did the forward bloc reach out to them.

The PMLN leader said if the situation persists, his party will make its own decision. Sources said Chaudhry contacted the PMLN after Qadir’s stance and sought support for the forward bloc’s candidate. In the latest development, two forward block members Javed But and Begum Col Naseem returned to the party’s fold and dented the efforts of the forward group to form the government. Holding a press conference, Javed Butt said he will vote for the nominee of Imran Khan.