• PPP keeps cards close to chest as PML-N’s backing raises number of votes to 36
• ‘N’ vows to support the motion, not PPP’s candidate

ISLAMABAD: While a joint no-confidence motion against Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Prime Minister Chaudhry Anwarul Haq — signed by PPP and PML-N members — has been finalised, the former has yet to announce its nominee to succeed him.

Informed sources told Dawn that although only 14 signatures are required to submit a no-confidence motion, the number of signatories is much higher. Those who have signed include PML-N’s AJK chief Shah Ghulam Qadir, its parliamentary leader in AJK Legi­s­lative Assembly Raja Far­ooq Hai­der, and all six members of the forward bloc aligned with AJK Pr­e­sident Barrister Sultan Mehmood.

The PML-N has agreed to support the motion but, according to party sources, will not vote for the new prime minister from the PPP. The party’s ministers are expec­ted to resign after submission of the motion, and will sit on the opposition benches.

A day after a meeting at the Presidency in Islamabad decided that the PPP would form the government in AJK after unseating Anwarul Haq, 10 members of the forward bloc joined the PPP ranks, placing the party in a position to remove the AJK prime minister even without PML-N’s backing.

The development has raised the PPP’s strength from 17 to 27 members, matching the magic figure need­ed for a majority in the 53-member house.

Also, Muh­a­mmad Iqbal, a UK-based busi­nessman elected on a rese­rved seat for overseas Kashmiris, reportedly resigned.

With PML-N’s support, the total number of members ready to vote out Anwarul Haq rises to 36. A PPP source, however, claimed that the party already enjoyed the ‘open support’ of 37 members, with more in contact.

TV channels, citing party sources, reported that the PPP finalised Chaudhry Yasin, the president of PPP AJK, as its nominee for the office of prime minister, though he denied the media reports later in a post on X. He said the PPP leadership had not formally announced its nominee.

Sources said the formal announcement of the PPP nominee will be made after a meeting between President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, which could not take place on Wednesday.

In a related development, President Zardari chaired a meeting of senior party leaders, attended by PPP Chairman Bila­wal Bhutto-Zardari, Raja Pervez Ashraf, Qamar Zaman Kaira, Chaudhry Yaseen, AJK Assembly Speaker Chaudhry Latif Akbar, and former AJK prime minister Sardar Yaqoob Khan.

The meeting focused on the political situation in Azad Kas­hmir, particularly the no-confidence motion against Anwa­rul Haq and the formation of a PPP government.

A meeting of PPP’s AJK parliamentary party will be held on Friday (tomorrow) at Zardari House. According to informed sources, the meeting will be chaired by PPP chairman, and the name of the next AJK PM will be announced afterwards.

Published in Dawn, October 30th, 2025