MUZAFFARABAD, May 20: A seven-member committee of AJK MLAs was constituted by Legislative Assembly Speaker Sardar Siab Khalid on Friday to propose amendments to the Interim Constitution of Azad Kashmir known as Act 1974. The formation of committee came in the wake of a standoff regarding the appointment of a permanent chief election commissioner which involves the prime minister of Pakistan in his capacity as chairman of the AJK Council.

According to AJK’s interim constitution, the CEC is appointed by the AJK president on the advice of the AJK Council. Ex-CEC Justice Syed Manzoor Hussain Gillani resigned early this month following a controversy over the preparation of new voters’ lists.

On Wednesday, the assembly witnessed a heated debate during which Prime Minister Sardar Sikandar Hayat called for repeal of all those amendments which “put a bar on the authority of the AJK government”.

He suggested the formation of a committee comprising members from both treasury and opposition benches to propose amendments and deletions in the constitution to “safeguard the identity of the state”.

On the PM’s proposal, AJK People’s Party president Sahibzada Ishaq Zaffar offered cooperation, but said he would forward the names of the members from his side after consulting the leader of the opposition, Barrister Sultan Mahmood Chaudhry.

A government team also held negotiations with the opposition leader in his chamber for two consecutive days, following which the speaker announced the names of the committee members.

The committee is headed by Minister for Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Raja Nisar Ahmed Khan and includes Transport Minister Sardar Tahir Anwar, Education Minister Chaudhry Mohammad Aziz, Health Minister Masood Khalid and Chaudhry Abdul Majeed, Haji Javed Akhtar and Sardar Ghualm Sadiq from the opposition benches.

The speaker informed the house that the committee would present its report within one month.

He said that every government had faced obstacles in the performance of its functions after the replacement of the Act 1970 by the Act 1974 and therefore the obstacles ought to be removed.

Meanwhile, the house also approved the “Bank of Azad Jammu and Kashmir Act 2005”.