Ch Anwarul Haq elected 15th PM of Azad Kashmir

F.P. Report

ISLAMABAD: Chaudhry Anwarul Haq has been elected unopposed as the 15th Prime Minister of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) in a sudden and unexpected turn of events in the wee hours of Thursday.

As no other candidate had submitted papers for the office, PTI forward bloc leader Chaudhry Anwar obtained 48 votes out of a 52-strong house – the biggest mandate in the history of the AJK legislative assembly. Opposition’s two main parties – PPP and PML-N – voted in favour of Anwarul Haq.

The Wednesday’s dramatic events which led the AJK Assembly to delay its session even after midnight were stemmed from the disqualification of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s Sardar Tanveer Ilyas by the AJK High Court in a contempt case.

An assembly session held on last Monday to elect a new prime minister was adjourned without any polling taking place. The secretary of the Azad Kashmir assembly confirmed that no nomination papers were submitted for any other candidate of the premiership.

The emergency meeting of the AJK legislative assembly was held after midnight when Speaker Anwarul Haq was elected to the post of prime minister unopposed.

Fifteen minutes were allotted for submission of the nomination papers, and the vote took place after Anwarul Haq was elected unopposed. Anwarul Haq received 12 votes each from the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and PTI forward bloc and seven votes from the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N).

In his inaugural address to the assembly following his election, Anwarul Haq said that he contested the election as an independent candidate, emphasising that he garnered the support of both the PDM and PTI members. Anwarul Haq also struck a chord with opposition parties and set a power-sharing formula in concert with them.

Last week, the AJK High Court disqualified Sardar Tanveer Ilyas for contempt of court, which was a major setback for the PTI. The court declared Ilyas ineligible for holding any public office and asked AJK’s Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Abdul Rasheed Sulehria to hold polls for his successor as prime minister. The court’s decision came after Ilyas was summoned to AJK’s supreme court and high court for using a “threatening tone” in one of his speeches.