The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) on Monday decided to support the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) for bringing a no-confidence motion against Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Prime Minister Chaudhry Anwarul Haq.
The announcement was made by Prime Minister’s Adviser on Political Affairs Rana Sanaullah while addressing a joint press conference in Islamabad, alongside PPP central leaders Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, Qamar Zaman Kaira, and others, after delegations from both parties met President Asif Ali Zardari.
“PML-N’s parliamentary party lacks trust in the incumbent [AJK] government,” said Sanaullah, adding: “PML-N will support PPP in the no-confidence motion. However, we will not be part of the [new] AJK government.”
He went on to say that free and fair elections would be held in the region after completion of the current tenure.
“Incumbent government have become a problem itself instead of a problem resolver,” Kaira slammed PM Anwar’s administration.
He welcomed the PML-N’s decision, which further strengthened the PPP’s position to oust the sitting premier. Kaira said that both sides respected each other’s decisions as they aimed to bring political stability to the region.
Iqbal, Federal Minister for Planning and PML-N senior leader, clarified that his party would sit on the opposition benches. “If the Peoples Party gets a majority in the AJK, then it would form its government,” he concluded.
Earlier in the day, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on Monday met with Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman, where the two discussed the country’s political landscape, PPP’s media cell said.
The meeting comes after 10 legislators – all elected on PTI tickets in the July 2021 general elections – announced on Sunday that they were joining the PPP, which has been eyeing the premier’s slot in the region.
In a post on X, the PPP said that Bilawal met with the JUI-F chief at his residence in Islamabad, where the two “discussed the country’s political landscape”.
Separately, state-run Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) reported that the two leaders “exchanged views on national issues and other matters of mutual interest.”
Separately, AJK Prime Minister Chaudhry Anwarul Haq is expected to resign soon, sources said on Monday.
The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) has claimed securing a majority in the AJK Legislative Assembly after several Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) MLAs joined its ranks, accomplishing the required number to table a no-confidence motion against the sitting premier.
The Bilawal Bhutto-led party, a key ally of the PML-N in the Centre, achieved the required number to form its government in the region without the support of the Nawaz Sharif-led party.
The sources added that Anwar, along with his associates, is likely to sit on the opposition benches following his resignation.
They said that the AJK premier has completed consultations regarding his resignation, indicating that the political realignment in the region is entering its conclusive phase.
Two sides of the same coin, reacts PTI
PTI Secretary General Salman Akram Raja on Monday said the PPP and PML-N did not have any “actual plan” to form an opposition in the AJK Assembly.
“PPP and PM-LN are the two sides of the same coin; they have an alliance and do not intend on forming an actual opposition”.