ISLAMABAD:
The PML-N has announced its separation from the Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) government led by Prime Minister Chaudhry Anwarul Haq. The PML-N AJK Chapter President Shah Ghulam Qadir made this announcement in a statement.
Qadir noted that it is the democratic right of the PPP to bring a no-confidence motion against PM Haq. However, the PML-N will not become part of any new government.
“The party will not support any unnatural government formation and will now sit on the opposition benches. Any member who deviates from the party’s policy will face disciplinary action,” he stated.
He said that a new government can only be formed through transparent general elections. The PML-N, he added, is actively working for the welfare of refugees and overseas Kashmiris and has emerged as a well-organized and popular political force.
The PML-N AJK president emphasized that the party will continue to play a constructive role in resolving the constitutional and political crisis, adding that a strong government in the AJK can only be established through general elections.
“The party will launch a vigorous election campaign under the leadership of PML-N President Nawaz Sharif and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif,” he added.
The AJK government has been facing a crisis since September, when the Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC) launched a protest demanding a number of things including abolition of 12 refugee seats in the AJK Legislative Assembly.
On October 5, the federal government signed a wide-ranging agreement with JAAC, addressing key political and economic grievances behind the recent protests.
However, the agreement did not go down well with some of Haq’s cabinet members, who started to hand in their resignations one by one. First, information minister Pir Mazhar Saeed tendered his resignation. He was followed by three more ministers. Ministers Abdul Majid Khan, Asim Sharif Bhat and Chaudhry Akbar Ibrahim alleged that Haq failed to protect the constitutional rights of the people of the AJK.
