MUZAFFARABAD: In a stunning move, the AJK Legislative Assembly elected its Speaker Chaudhry Anwarul Haq as the new prime minister in the wee hours of Thursday, reportedly breaking a week-long impasse following the disqualification of former PM Sardar Tanveer Ilyas.
All 48 members of the parliament, including 29 from the ruling PTI and opposition members from the PPP and PML-N, had confidence in Mr. Haq because no one had filed nomination papers to challenge him.
Mr. Haq has remained with the PTI ever since Mr. Ilyas’ disqualification “to ensure its return to power in the face of manoeuvres by the combined opposition,” which sought to seize control with the aid of a second small group of PTI defectors, under the influence of President Barrister Sultan Mahmood.”
Imran Khan, the leader of the PTI, had selected Mr. Haq as one of the three parliamentarians from whom the parliamentary party should choose a candidate to be the premier of the AJK.
But on Wednesday night, a 12-member PTI “forward bloc” and the combined opposition announced that he will be their joint candidate.
Ilyas, the regional president of PTI, claimed in a statement that the party has not yet announced a candidate for the position.
I recently learned about Mr. Haq’s schemes. He was doing two things at once: he was promising the PTI leadership that he was working to save the party, and he was also making a deal with the establishment,” he added.