IT appears that Chaudhry Anwarul Haq’s tenure as prime minister of Azad Kashmir is about to come to a close, as a no-trust resolution against him has been submitted, and in keeping with the region’s constitution, Faisal Rathore has been proposed as the new leader of the house. Efforts to dislodge Mr Haq had been ongoing for weeks, and a ‘breakthrough’ was achieved after the PPP announced Mr Rathore’s name on Friday. Mr Haq, initially a PTI member, had been elected PM in April 2023 after his predecessor was disqualified and he received the support of a ‘forward bloc’ from within his old party, as well as the then opposition in the AJK parliament. However, deadly protests last month, led by the Jammu Kashmir Joint Action Committee, appeared to spell the beginning of the end for the Haq ministry. The protesters had demanded, among other things, a halt to ‘elite privileges’ for the region’s ministers and officials. Matters turned so serious that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had to dispatch a high-powered team from Islamabad to quell the unrest. There were also complaints that Mr Haq had called very few sessions of the AJK Legislative Assembly, while crucially, it was being said that he had lost the confidence of powerful quarters within the Pakistani state.

Mr Rathore, who comes from a political family, is said to have a ‘conciliatory’ nature. He will need to exercise all his political prowess to address the issues of the region. The unfortunate fact is that power in AJK has become a game of musical chairs, with the various political tribes taking turns at the helm of the region’s administration, only to be ousted by their opponents when public frustration boils over, or when powerful players in Islamabad and Rawalpindi decide there needs to be a change in Muzaffarabad. This political paralysis results in public discontent, as last month’s protests showed. People of the region want genuine good governance and their basic issues to be resolved. When democratic institutions fail to address their demands, and when political actors are too busy fighting amongst themselves, the people hit the streets to air their grievances. This debilitating cycle must be broken, and the genuine issues of AJK’s citizens be addressed immediately. The incoming administration must prioritise service delivery and responsive governance over politicking.

Published in Dawn, November 16th, 2025