MUZAFFARABAD:Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Prime Minister Chaudhry Anwarul Haq on Monday downplayed recent moves by coalition partners to court members of his ‘Forward Bloc’, asserting that he remained committed to stepping down voluntarily if his opponents managed to gather the support of 27 lawmakers — the number required to oust him through a no-confidence vote.

“Ever since I assumed office, I’ve been hearing speculations about my departure — and frankly, I’ve found them amusing,” he said during a conversation with a group of senior journalists at his office.

“Regardless of personal sentiments, I believe I will remain in this position for as long as it is the will of my Creator,” the AJK prime minister said.

Recently, two members of the Forward Bloc — comprising defectors from the PTI — joined the PPP, while another aligned with the PML-N.

Two opposition legislators also crossed over to the PPP, bringing its strength to 17 in the 53-member legislative assembly and fueling speculation that the party was preparing to replace Mr Haq with its own candidate.

“I won’t comment further on the matter,” Mr Haq said. “The media reported a no-confidence motion was in the pipeline, but I was later told by some colleagues that the idea had fizzled out,” he added. “At present, I enjoy the confidence of a majority in the assembly,” the AJK premier asserted. When asked about his future political course, Mr Haq remarked that politics is an art rooted in timing and that both premature and delayed decisions could have adverse consequences.

He said any future course of action would be shaped through deliberations with members of the Forward Bloc, based on collective wisdom and mutual understanding.

Asked whether more lawmakers were considering leaving the bloc, he replied: “Those who wish to leave cannot be stopped — just as those who want to join cannot be held back.” He then quoted a Pahari proverb implying that gains and losses often balance out over time.

Highlighting his administration’s performance, the premier said he derived satisfaction from defying critics who had claimed meaningful reform in AJK was impossible. “I’ve demonstrated that when the person at the helm is determined to steer clear of corruption, tangible results follow,” he asserted. While acknowledging that systemic flaws embedded over decades could not be eliminated in a matter of months, he said consistent effort and resolve had yielded unexpectedly positive outcomes.

“When I took charge, the government faced a debt of Rs11 billion. Yet today, despite supplying electricity at just Rs3 per unit and wheat flour at Rs2,000 per 40kg, we are operating without a budget deficit,” he stated.

He also pointed to his own office as an example of austerity, noting that unlike his predecessors, he had been running official affairs with just a three-member staff.

“While elsewhere in the country the budgets of chief executives’ offices have been significantly increased, mine is the only one that has voluntarily surrendered its budget,” he asserted. Mr Haq also revealed that his administration had allocated Rs3 billion from AJK’s own resources for development projects, marking a departure from previous years, when development grants were entirely dependent on federal funding.

Published in Dawn, July 15th, 2025