MUZAFFARABAD: The Prime Minister of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Chaudhry Abdul Majeed on Tuesday removed a member of his cabinet who had applied for a PML-N ticket for the upcoming elections.

“In exercise of his powers under Section 14 (3) of the AJK Interim Constitution Act, 1974, the prime minister has removed Mohammad Akbar Chaudhry, minister for trade and industry, from the cabinet with immediate effect”, read a notification issued by the Services and General Administration Department.

However, the minister, who is commonly known as Akbar Ibrahim, claimed he had resigned from cabinet to join PML-N.

Removed minister claims he resigned from cabinet to protect constituency interests

“I have decided to join the PML-N and will contest the upcoming polls on its ticket to return to the assembly, and that is why I have tendered my resignation”, Mohammad Akbar Chaudhry told some reporters.

“In politics, you are supposed to serve the people, a goal which you cannot achieve if you are not part of the government...I have taken this decision after proper consultations with my colleagues and supporters in the larger interests of my constituency”, he said.

Mr Chaudhry won the 2006 and 2011 elections from LA 34, Jammu-V, one of the 12 constituencies of the AJK Assembly located in Pakistan, apparently as an independent candidate, but with support from PML-Q, led by the Chaudhries of Gujrat.

He remained member of the cabinet from 2006 to 2011 in three of four governments in AJK and has held a ministerial position from the first day of the sitting PPP government, except for a gap of seven weeks after an abortive no-trust move against the prime minister in July 2013.

He applied for a PML-N ticket on April 5 and two days after submitting his application, he attended the cabinet’s meeting chaired by the prime minister.

When asked, Mr Chaudhry had denied having submitted an application and said that he had been asked by the local (Gujrat) chapter of PML-N to contest the upcoming elections on their ticket.

A PPP source told Dawn that this “unethical” act had been discussed by the party’s central leadership, “following which it was decided to send him packing without further ado”.

Meanwhile, MNA Faryal Talpur held a meeting with Minister for Rehabilitation and Population Welfare Abdul Majid Khan on Tuesday, in order to persuade him to contest the elections on PPP’s ticket.

However, Mr Khan, who has won two elections as an independent candidate, is reported to have said that fighting the election from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on the PPP’s ticket will be counter-productive and that he would prefer to enter the fray as an independent candidate.

The PPP source said that Ms Talpur then agreed with Mr Khan’s argument.

The source also said that PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has summoned a meeting of the AJK Parliamentary Party in Zardari House in Islamabad on Wednesday.

“The meeting will decide where the PPP parliamentary board should hold its first meeting to decide on party tickets for candidates”, the source said.

PML-N held the first meeting of its parliamentary board in Muzaffarabad, which was presided over by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif as party president.

Published in Dawn, April 13th, 2016