MUZAFFARABAD – The Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Legislative Assembly is set to vote today on a no-confidence motion filed against Prime Minister Chaudhry Anwar-ul-Haq. A special session of the assembly will commence at 3pm under the chairmanship of Speaker Chaudhry Latif Akbar. The resolution for the vote of no-confidence was submitted last Friday.
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The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), led by Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, has nominated Faisal Rathore as its candidate for AJK premier, with support from the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N). Security has been tightened around the Assembly Secretariat, Ministers’ Block, and Prime Minister’s Secretariat, with entry restricted to lawmakers, assembly staff, and media personnel holding passes.
The PPP strengthened its position in the assembly after 10 Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) lawmakers joined the party on October 26. With additional backing from PML-N, the PPP claims to hold 37 seats, surpassing the simple majority requirement of 27 votes. In the 2021 elections, PTI had formed the government with 32 supporting members out of 53 in the house.
Read More: PPP begins politicking for in-house change in AJK assembly
The current vote marks the seventh no-confidence motion in AJK history since 1975. Should the motion pass, PPP’s Raja Faisal Mumtaz Rathore will be elected the 16th Prime Minister of Azad Jammu and Kashmir.