ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) have agreed to move a joint no-confidence motion against Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Prime Minister Anwar-ul-Haq.
The decision was made during a meeting between a PML-N delegation and President Asif Ali Zardari.
According to sources, the meeting discussed political and administrative matters in AJK, focusing on the planned no-confidence motion in the Legislative Assembly and the formation of a new government.
During the meeting, names for a potential new prime minister was also discussed. The PPP formally invited the PML-N to join the government in AJK.
Following the meeting, Federal Minister Ahsan Iqbal, Amir Muqam, PPP leaders and former prime minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf and Qamar Zaman Kaira addressed a joint press conference.
Kaira confirmed that both parties have decided to table a no-confidence motion against the AJK prime minister. He said that while the PML-N would support the move, it would not be part of the new government.
“We respect the PML-N’s decision not to join the government,” Kaira said. “However, they have agreed with us on the no-confidence move.”
Senator Rana Sanaullah also said that the PML-N would back the PPP’s motion but would stay out of the incoming government.
He said that the current AJK government had failed to address public issues, and there was a consensus that a better government was needed in the region.
Earlier, the PML-N announced its decision to part ways with the Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) government, declaring that it will now sit in opposition and not be part of any new political arrangement.
Speaking to reporters, PML-N AJK President Shah Ghulam Qadir said the PPP had the democratic right to move a no-confidence motion against the prime minister, but the PML-N would not support or join any new coalition government.
“We will not become part of any unnatural alliance. The PML-N will now play the role of a responsible opposition,” Qadir said, warning that any party member defying the party’s stance would face disciplinary action.
Anwar-ul-Haq, who previously served as Speaker of the AJK Legislative Assembly, was elected unopposed as prime minister after securing the support of 48 out of 52 legislators — including members of PTI, PPP, and PML-N — making it one of the broadest-based governments in the region’s recent history.
Haq earlier challenged his political opponents to bring a no-confidence motion against him saying they don’t have the support of the majority in the assembly.