MUZAFFARABAD: In what appeared to be a blow to the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), two more members of Prime Minister Raja Farooq Haider’s cabinet resigned from their office with different motives for the move.

Minister for forests Sardar Mir Akbar, who the PML-N had nominated as its candidate for the upcoming polls from LA-16, Bagh-III, not only resigned from the cabinet but also from the Legislative Assembly membership and joined Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) at a meeting with its chief organiser Senator Saifullah Niyazee in Islamabad on Friday.

According to a press release by the PTI media wing, Mr Akbar expressed complete confidence and trust in the leadership of Prime Minister Imran Khan and the PTI manifesto.The PTI, which had already withheld a decision regarding its candidate from LA-16, Bagh-III, declared Mr Akbar as its candidate from there.

Federal minister for Kashmir affairs Ali Amin Gandapur and Punjab chief minister’s adviser Sardar Tanveer Ilyas Khan, who has been zealously bringing the electables into the PTI fold, were also present on the occasion.

Interestingly, there were widespread speculations for quite some time that Mr Akbar was contemplating switching loyalties from PML-N to the PTI despite his “categorical denial of such predictions.”

Meanwhile, Legislative Assembly Secretary Chaudhry Basharat Hussain confirmed to Dawn that his secretariat had received Mr Akbar’s resignation at 11am on Friday.

“The resignation requires a formal acceptance by the speaker following which the notification will be issued. Since the speaker is in Neelum valley in connection with his election campaign, any further action cannot be taken until his return,” the secretary said.

However, confusion prevailed about the resignation of minister for communication and works Chaudhry Mohammad Aziz, who is also vice president of PML-N as well as its nominee from LA-17, Bagh-IV (Haveli).

In his telephonic conversation with some PML-N activists, Mr Aziz said though he had submitted a resignation to Prime Minister Haider “but the one doing the rounds on social media was fake.”

Last month a woman and her daughter, belonging to the tribe of Mr Aziz, were found hanging in their homes in Gugdar village of district Haveli. Both were alleged to have been killed by some people from the tribe of Mr Aziz’s electoral rival from PPP to take revenge for an inter-caste marriage.

Mr Aziz maintained that the district police chief was not properly investigating the case against which people in Haveli had organised a protest demonstration on Friday.

“Since it was inappropriate to attend a protest demonstration as a sitting cabinet member, I submitted my resignation to the premier on Thursday citing the very reason,” he said, asserting that he was very much part of the PML-N parliamentary party.

AJK prime minister’s press secretary Raja Mohammad Wasim also shared a similar message on social media and said the PM had turned down his resignation.

“Chaudhry Aziz is very much in the PML-N and has nothing to do with the resignation circulated on social media,” Mr Wasim said.

Published in Dawn, June 19th, 2021