ISLAMABAD, Sept 29: The Muslim Conference on Wednesday refused to accept Prime Minister Sardar Sikandar Hayat's government in Azad Jammu and Kashmir.
Through a resolution adopted at its meeting here, the party's central command asked its supreme leader Sardar Abdul Qayum Khan to help dislodge Mr Hayat's government and his son Sardar Attiq, the president of the Muslim Conference, to take over as the prime minister.
The meeting, presided over by Qayum Khan and Sardar Attiq, was attended by 55 of the 77 members of the central high command of the party but only two members of the Legislative Assembly.
The prime minister, according to sources, refused to accept the decisions on the grounds that only the party's central working committee, general council or parliamentary party could take such a step.
He was quoted as saying that he was elected by the parliamentary group of the party and only that could ask him to quit. Sardar Sikandar has been claiming the continued support of 'the forces that had helped him form the government'.
Sardar Qayum's group has the support of about 15 MLAs in the 32-member parliamentary group of the Muslim Conference but the prime minister needs support from outside the party with 17 or 18 MLAs in the house of 48.
The People's Party AJK has 16 MLAs and its leader Sultan Mehmood will speak at a news conference on Thursday about the crisis. The meeting continued for seven hours at the residence of Sardar Qayum in Rawalpindi, who told the participants that the ball was in the court of the prime minister.
He said a large number of complaints was received from party workers about lack of development works and the government's failure to pay heed to their grievances. A resolution adopted at the meeting said "it does not recognise Sardar Sikandar's regime as the party government".
