ISLAMABAD: Azad Kashmir Prime Minister Raja Farooq Haider resigned on Monday to avoid a no-confidence motion which was to be taken up by the AJK assembly on Tuesday. The dramatic development, analysts say, may lead to new alliances and block the way for Sardar Atique Ahmed Khan, the main aspirant for the job and president of the ruling All Jammu and Kashmir Muslim Conference (AJKMC).
Mr Haider said at a news conference here that he had sent his resignation to state President Raja Zulqarnain with an advice to convene an assembly session on Aug 6 to elect a new leader of the house. He claimed he had taken the decision to keep the party united.
But the party appears to be in tatters, rekindling hopes of the AJK chapter of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) to capture power in the next election after remaining out of power for two terms.
Mr Haider said that although he had the power under the constitution to nominate anyone as acting prime minister till the new election, he decided to continue to hold office till Aug 10.
The present AJK assembly will be electing a fourth prime minister since its election in 2006. Sardar Atique was removed through a no-confidence motion in January last year and replaced by party dissident Sardar Mohammad Yaqub who was backed by Mr Haider. He headed a short-lived coalition that included the PPP and some smaller groups.
Mr Yaqub resigned in October last year to avoid a no-confidence move after Mr Atique mended fences with Mr Haider who was elected premier by a reunited AJKMC.
The movers of the fresh no-confidence motion had once again nominated Sardar Atique as the new leader of the house. Under assembly rules, he would have automatically become the leader of the house if the motion had been carried.
But after Mr Haider’s resignation, Sardar Atique will have to contest the election.The motion against Mr Haider had been moved by 11 members on Friday and the speaker had called an assembly session on Tuesday morning.
Although the motion had been submitted by members of a ‘forward bloc’ in the Muslim Conference, known as the ‘Friends Group’, it is believed that Sardar Atique was behind it. Mr Haider declared that Sardar Atique was not acceptable to him and his supporters and he was ready to support any other person nominated by the parliamentary party for the office of the prime minister.
He said that no legislator belonging to the AJKMC had signed the no-confidence motion. If Sardar Atique had any complaint, he should have convened a meeting of the parliamentary party to discuss the matter, he said.
Mr Haider also held the federal government responsible for the crisis in Azad Kashmir and particularly criticised the role of Kashmir Affairs Minister Manzoor Wattoo. He alleged that a “corrupt mafia” headed by Mr Wattoo had ganged up against him.
The charge was immediately denied by Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira who said at a press conference that the AJK premier’s party colleagues had turned against him because of his wrong policies.
Mr Haider said he had held detailed talks with Pakistan Muslim League-N chief Nawaz Sharif and the option of setting up a PML-N chapter in AJK was open.
Responding to the allegations levelled against him, Sardar Atique said time and history would tell who had divided the party.
Talking to a TV channel, he admitted that he and the parliamentary party had selected Mr Haider as the Leader of the House for the remaining 18 months of the current assembly, although he was not willing to become the prime minister.