Asad Qaiser says some forces want to rob PTI of its mandate

Our members are being bought, says Asad Qaiser

MUZAFFARABAD:

Political manoeuvring for the election of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) prime minister continues as the legislative assembly is expected to meet on Monday, media reports suggested on Sunday.

The matter of electing a new AJK prime minister arose after the disquisition of Tanvir Ilyas of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) by the AJK High Court on April 11. Later, the decision was upheld by the region’s Supreme Court.

Reports said that an AJK Legislative Assembly session, convened to elect the new leader of the house, had been adjourned many times because the ruling party had difficulties in completing the numbers.

Reportedly, the PTI in the region is divided in to four groups. However, senior PTI leader and former National Assembly speaker Asad Qaiser has been successful in patching up two of the groups.

Because of the intra-party differences, the PTI faces difficulties in agreeing to its final candidate. One group of AJK President Barrister Sultan Mehmood has named Chaudhry Akhlaq and Chaudhry Rasheed as its candidates.

On the other hand, the ‘forward bloc’ has claimed to have reached a deal with the opposition for election of the new prime minister. The opposition on Sunday said they had completed their numbers.

Opposition leader in AJKLA and former prime minister Raja Farooq Haider said that he would announce their candidate as soon as the schedule of the prime minister’s election is released, while adding that “we have full numbers.”

Qaiser told a news conference that some forces wanted to “rob us of our mandate”, charging that members belonging to the PTI were being bought. “Today, I am speaking with caution, but tomorrow I will speak openly. Our members are being bought.”

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According to Article 17 of the AJK Constitution, election of the prime minister is necessary in the ongoing AJKLA session. However, because of lack of a clear majority, the session had been postponed thrice.

The house will meet at 11am on Monday.

The AJKLA comprises 52 lawmakers. At present, the PTI has the support of 26 members, which means that even a single vote can turn the tide against it. In this scenario, the vote of Muslim Conference leader Sardar Atiq Ahmad Khan has become very critical.

Due to the fear of contacts with the opposition, the government members of the assembly have been kept under strict surveillance. Chaudhry Yasin, Latif Akbar, and Faisal Mumtaz Rathore from the opposition are in the race for the premiership.