MUZAFFARABAD: Azad Jammu and Kashmir’s (AJK) Prime Minister Chaudhry Abdul Majeed on Saturday removed two more members of his cabinet for what his spokesman said violating the party discipline.

According to a notification issued by the Services and General Administration Department (S&GAD), Minister for Revenue and Evacuee Properties Chaudhry Ali Shan Soni and minister for Azad Kashmir Logging and Sawmills Corporation (AKLASC) and fisheries Raja Wajidur Rehman were removed by the prime minister from their offices with immediate effect.

The notification did not give any reason but Shaukat Javed Mir, one of the spokesmen for the prime minister, told Dawn that both cabinet members had resorted to “blatant violation of party discipline,” which had necessitated their removal.

Mr Soni who has won two consecutive general elections as an independent candidate from Samahni constituency and had been the part of each government over the last ten years, was appointed by PPP as its vice president from Bhimber district.

However, instead of contesting the upcoming election as a nominee of the PPP he had announced that he would keep his tradition of competing as an independent candidate.

Contrarily, Mr Rehman was elected as MLA against a special seat reserved for the overseas Kashmiris. In January 2012, he was inducted into the cabinet.

Mr Rehman was said to have filed nomination papers from Dadyal in district Mirpur against the will of the PPP, which has awarded its ticket to Minister for Zakat and Auqaf Chaudhry Afsar Shahid, who returned to the assembly from this constituency in last general elections.

This is the third such step in less than three months.

Earlier, on May 23, the prime minister had removed minister for rehabilitation Abdul Majid Khan and minister for Mangla Dam Affairs Chaudhry Mohammad Hussain Sargala for casting their vote in the AJK Council election in favour of an opposition candidate.

Prior to that, on April 12, Mr Majeed had sacked minister for trade and industries Chaudhry Mohammad Akbar Ibrahim after he had clandestinely applied for the PML-N ticket for the upcoming elections.

Published in Dawn, June 26th, 2016