MUZAFFARABAD:
The PPP claimed last week that it was in a position to bring its prime minister in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), where the coalition government of Prime Minister Chaudhry Anwarul Haq has been in trouble for the last couple of months.
However, the PPP high command has yet to nominate an alternative leader of the house in the AJK Assembly, causing repeated delays in submitting a no-confidence motion against Haq.
Despite claiming a numerical majority, the PPP has struggled to assert its position for over a week and a half. Sources indicate that the decision to move the no-confidence motion is expected only after PPP Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto Zardari returns to the country.
The delay is also reportedly linked to the PML-N’s demand for early elections, which would prevent the PPP from gaining political advantage through an in-house change.
The current assembly’s term ends in July. Two months before elections, all development work is typically halted, and the authority over appointments and transfers is revoked. Sources said the PML-N is firm on holding elections in March, meaning a new government would lose powers by January, two months before the vote. In December and January, the PPP would be unable to achieve its political goals. The party’s insistence on completing the assembly’s full term is reportedly a key reason behind the deadlock.
Around 80% of AJK’s development budget remains unspent, and about 2,000 immediate recruitment positions, along with initiatives like health cards, could offer political leverage to a new government.
The PPP earlier announced its intention to form the government in the AJK during a meeting chaired by President Asif Ali Zardari. The party’s Azad Kashmir Parliamentary Group also met in Islamabad to discuss the political landscape.
On October 26, ten members of the PTI’s forward bloc in the AJK Assembly announced their decision to join the PPP, enabling the party to gain the required majority.
The following day, the PPP and PML-N agreed to move a no-confidence motion against PM Haq.
However, the PTI disassociated itself from the opposition alliance’s no-confidence motion.
