ISLAMABAD (Kashmir English): The political temperature in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) has risen to a treacherous level, as a 22-member alliance comprising members from both the opposition and the treasury has emerged as a new challenge for the Rathore government, it emerged on Saturday.
The development shows that the government was fast losing support from the house. All major opposition parties in the Legislative Assembly, including PML-N, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, PTI Forward Bloc, and Jammu Kashmir Peoples Party, have unusually united on a single platform, posing a direct political challenge to the government.
According to sources, the sole member of the assembly from the Muslim Conference on the opposition benches was not seen in the opposition alliance meetings.
According to reliable sources, the 22 members of the opposition alliance, after extensive consultations in Muzaffarabad, have formulated a joint strategy.
They said a clear warning has been issued to the PPP government that if the arbitrary distribution of development funds, favouritism in transfers and appointments, and political use of government resources are not immediately stopped, the government will be given a tough time inside and outside the assembly.
According to sources, 14 opposition members, who attended the meeting, expressed strong reservations to the Prime Minister, clarifying that reserving positions up to scale 6 for the PPP, allocating schemes only to government members, and using administrative powers under political pressure is a clear biased governance style of the Prime Minister’s House.
In a meeting with the opposition, Prime Minister Faisal Mumtaz Rathore openly admitted that due to party pressure, some decisions, including the distribution of positions up to scale 6 among PPP candidates, are “mandatory” under the direction of the party high command, to which the opposition reacted strongly, calling it “government incompetence.”
Warning to Rathore government
In the meeting of the opposition alliance, former Prime Minister Chaudhry Anwar-ul-Haq clearly announced that “a fifth Prime Minister can also come” because numerically, the government and the opposition have almost equal numbers, and that the PPP government is now standing merely on crutches.
According to sources, the opposition has completely rejected the PPP’s nominated presidential candidate and has given PML-N a deadline of three to four days to consult with its leadership and present a joint candidate for the presidential election from the united opposition.
They said the united opposition has decided that if the government does not change its attitude, a strong political movement will be launched, and the alleged irregularities of the ruling party will be brought before the public through press conferences and public gatherings.
According to sources, Leader of the Opposition Shah Ghulam Qadir, Raja Farooq Haider, Sardar Abdul Qayyum Niazi, Khawaja Farooq Ahmed, Chaudhry Anwar-ul-Haq, and Sardar Hassan Ibrahim, attended the meeting, while former Prime Minister Sardar Ateeq Ahmed Khan did not attend the meeting.
The eight members of Barrister Sultan Mahmood group and the three members of the migrants residing in Pakistan have already held a separate meeting and given a clear warning to the PPP leadership and the government that the presidential candidate will be from Barrister Sultan Mahmood group.
