After Sardar Abdul Qayyum Niazi’s resignation, the Legislative Assembly of Azad Jammu and Kashmir will meet today (Friday) to elect a new prime minister.
The assembly session was called to allow opposition parties to file a no-confidence motion against Mr. Niazi, but since the latter submitted his resignation to PTI Chairman Imran Khan on Thursday, the no-trust motion will not be considered in today’s session.
The members of the assembly, on the other hand, elect a new Speaker of the House. Sardar Tanveer Ilyas has been nominated by the PTI as its candidate for the position. Though no opposition parties have yet to make a nomination, PPP leader Chaudhry Yaseen is seen as a strong candidate for the position.
Today is the last day for nomination papers to be accepted by the Speaker of the AJK Legislative Assembly.
The PTI claims that all 32 of its MLAs are in agreement.
The PTI AJK claims that 32 of its members have come together.
According to sources, 28 PTI MLAs are staying in a five-star hotel in Muzaffarabad, while four MLAs have traveled to Islamabad with Sardar Tanveer Ilyas.
All conspiracies have failed, according to a PTI spokesperson, and no one can stop Mr. Ilyas from becoming Prime Minister of the AJK.
A simple majority of 27 votes is required to win the election for AJK Prime Minister. The spokesperson, on the other hand, claims that the party’s 32 MLAs are united and fully support the nominee.
Mr. Ilyas, Imran Khan’s nominated candidate, appears to have defeated the opposition in a numbers game.
Before today’s assembly session, the PTI (AJK Chapter) held a meeting of its parliamentarians. By a show of hands, the meeting chaired by Ali Amin Gandapur expressed confidence in Mr. Ilyas.
The PPP intends to take legal action against the assembly session.
On the other hand, the opposition leader in the AJK Assembly, Ch Lateef Akbar, objected to the election of the prime minister during today’s session, claiming that the session was specifically convened for the purpose of filing a no-confidence motion.
When a prime minister resigns, the President is required by law to convene the assembly session within 14 days. The Assembly Speaker does not have the authority to call a special session of the House to elect a new Leader of the House.
He claimed that holding a prime minister election was unconstitutional because the only item on the agenda for today’s assembly session was a no-confidence motion.
He went on to say that while the house had the authority to change the agenda item after suspending the rules during normal assembly proceedings, the assembly sitting called specifically to table the no-trust resolution was not a normal proceeding, and no other agenda item could be taken on that day.
Lateef Akbar, speaking to reporters, said the PPP has decided to file a court petition to stop today’s assembly session. “They’ve ripped the Constitution and the rules to shreds,” he continued.
Niazi’s resignation is accepted by the president of the AJK.
Meanwhile, AJK President Barrister Sultan Chaudhry accepted Sardar Abdul Qayyum Niazi’s resignation as Prime Minister of Azad Kashmir on Friday.
The PTI ministers filed a no-confidence motion against Mr. Niazi, claiming that he had failed to deliver and had lost the support of the party’s MLAs.
Mr. Niazi, who was still Prime Minister on Thursday, fired five of his top ministers, including Sardar Tanveer Ilyas.
Imran Khan, the PTI’s leader, sacrificed Niazi in order to save the PTI’s government in AJK, which could have seen defections if Niazi had remained the AJK PM.
The PTI emerged as the largest party in the AJK election in July 2021. Sardar Tanveer Ilyas was the most powerful candidate for the position of Prime Minister. Imran Khan, on the other hand, chose Niazi, who did not have much support from PTI MLAs.
