MUZAFFARABAD: The Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Legislative Assembly on Monday elected four members of the AJK Council, giving two seats to the ruling PPP and the rest to the divided opposition.

The polling was held in the MLA hostel under the proportional representation system by means of single transferable vote. All but one of the 48 legislative assembly members took part in it.

While the opposition PML-N was on the ‘high moral ground’ as all its 11 MLAs voted for and got elected their nominee, Parvaiz Akhtar of Sudhnoti, the PPP appeared to be in a shock as at least seven voters slipped from its ranks, including at least three cabinet members.

Both the PPP candidates – Akhter Parvez Awan and Mohammad Younis Meer – got 11 votes each but Mukhtar Ahmed Abbasi, the joint candidate of Muslim Conference (MC) and PTI, bagged 14 votes.

Premier removes two ministers, alleges horse trading by MC, PTI

The PTI has one and MC has four ‘declared’ votes in the 48-member house.

Prime Minister Chaudhry Abdul Majeed later removed rehabilitation minister Abdul Majid Khan and Mangla dam affairs minister Mohammad Hussain Sargala from the cabinet for voting against the party discipline.

“The MC and PTI set the worst examples of horse-trading,” alleged Mr Majeed at a press conference.

He said he would soon track down the remaining treasury members who had voted in favour of Mr Abbasi.

The PPP leaders, however, appreciated the PML-N for discouraging horse trading. However, at a press conference, the PML-N leaders criticised the PPP as well as the MC, PTI and their “facilitators.”

“It’s a food for thought for the Kashmiri nation that how an alliance with five votes has secured 14 votes,” said PML-N president, Raja Farooq Haider.

“At least Rs350 to Rs400 million have been invested in this election, something we had long been expressing apprehensions about,” he said.

Earlier, PTI president Barrister Sultan Mahmood and MC president Sardar Attique Ahmed Khan announced at a joint press conference that they had agreed to form a formal alliance for the polls.

Fielding a joint candidate for the council elections was a first step towards the alliance, they said.

However, when they were asked how they could get their nominee elected when they had only five votes, both the leaders said they would “recover their stolen legislators from PPP and PML-N.”

Published in Dawn, May 24th, 2016