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No-confidence motion against AJK prime minister

Opposition parties in the AJK legislative assembly have moved a resolution of no-confidence against the AJK PM.

Roshan Mughal July 24, 2010

MUZAFFARABAD: Opposition parties in the Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) legislative assembly have moved a resolution of no-confidence against the AJK Prime Minister Raja Farooq Haider Khan.

The resolution was moved by Chaudhry Muhammad Aziz, member of the legislative assembly from Havali from Friends Group, which is a breakaway faction of the ruling All Jammu and Kashmir Muslim Conference party. Aziz said that AJK Prime Minister Raja Farooq Haider Khan had damaged the cause of Kashmir and was becoming a hurdle in the state’s development. The resolution nominates president of the Muslim Conference Sardar Attique Ahmed Khan as the new leader of the house.

Speaker of the legislative assembly Shah Ghulam Qadir has called an assembly session on Tuesday to debate the move. The session was requested by 13 members of the legislative assembly, all from opposition parties, who filed a requisition with the assembly secretariat. Those who requested the session include former prime minister Sardar Yaqub Khan, President of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) in AJK Chaudhry Abdul Majeed, PPP AJK secretary-general Chaudhry Akbar, Muttahida Qaumi Movement’s Tahir Khokhar, and Peoples Muslim League’s Chaudhry Anwar-ul-Haq.

If passed, the no-confidence motion will be the third one in the last 18 months. Sardar Attique Ahmed Khan was voted out in in January 2009. Eight months later, Sardar Yaqub Khan was also voted out.

Meanwhile, Raja Farooq has termed the no-confidence motion as the PPP AJK’s conspiracy to divide the Muslim Conference. He said that he will neither resign nor dissolve the assembly and would face the motion. Farooq is to convene a parliamentary party meeting on Saturday to assess the situation.

Raja Farooq had assumed office in October 2009 after Sardar Yaqub was removed from office through a no-confidence vote, moved by the Muslim Conference after reunification of the factions of Raja Farooq and Sardar Attique.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 24^th, 2010.

COMMENTS (1)

Karim | 14 years ago | Reply The People of AJK should not get sense enough on the power game within the Muslim Conference. The notorious role played by Pakistani establishment and the Minister for Kashmir Affairs is a clear indication on how Azad is the Azad Kashmir. People should get rid of the parties like Muslim Conference, who are only interested in power. It is time now for the nationalist political forces come forward and join an alliance.

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