President Asif Ali Zardari was on phone with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to discuss Pakistan People’s Party (PPP)’s decision to form a government in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), giving the Prime Minister confidence about the move, sources said on Sunday.
According to party sources, Prime Minister Shehbaz has tasked the AJK Affairs Committee of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) to hold negotiations with the PPP on the matter.
The committee is headed by Ahsan Iqbal, and its members are Rana Sanaullah and Amir Muqam. Before starting talks with the PPP, the committee had started consultations with the AJK leadership of the PML-N.
The prime minister also formed a separate committee, headed by Ahsan Iqbal, to determine whether the party should support the PPP’s bid for government formation in AJK or not.
It is noteworthy that the PML-N parliamentary party in AJK has already announced its decision to join the opposition.
The PPP, however, is seeking the backing of the PML-N to install its own prime minister in AJK. If the PML-N declines, PPP leaders would be considering approaching members of a 20-member advanced bloc to secure support for government formation.
Read: PPP eyes AJK throne
Earlier, the PPP had decided to form a new government in AJK after President Asif Ali Zardari passed a no-confidence motion against the current AJK Prime Minister.
According to PPP AJK Chairman Chaudhry Yasin, the party has formally decided to go ahead with forming its own government in the region. “The PPP has taken a final decision to form its government in Azad Kashmir,” Yasin told reporters after high-level meetings of the party in Islamabad.
He said the parliamentary party’s detailed consultations on the political situation in the region and government formation were held in two sessions – the first chaired by PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari and the second by President Asif Ali Zardari, who also serves as co-chairman of the party.
“The meeting was attended by all members of the parliamentary party,” Yasin said, adding that the president supported the party’s decisions regarding political strategy in AJK.
He confirmed that a no-confidence motion against the AJK Prime Minister will be tabled next week. “The president has passed the no-confidence motion against the chief minister of Azad Kashmir,” Yasin said.
He announced that Bilawal would reveal the name of AJK’s new prime ministerial candidate on Tuesday.
“President Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari himself will announce the name of the new prime minister,” Yasin said.
Yasin said the PPP and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) were “on the same page” in AJK politics, adding that “the PML-N will vote in our favor when the no-confidence motion is tabled.”
