MUZAFFARABAD: Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) on Friday officially nominated Faisal Mumtaz Rathore as Prime Minister of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK).
The announcement was made by PPP AJK President Chaudhry Muhammad Yasin along with former PM Raja Pervez Ashraf, who said, “Our chairman has decided that Faisal Rathore, who is the General Secretary of our party in AJK, will be nominated for the position of PM.”
He stated that “we are going to table the vote of no confidence today, so god willing, in the next few days, PPP will have its government in AJK.”
“Faisal Rathore is an educated young man; he has a lot of experience and has been part of the assembly before,” Raja Pervez added.
Who is Faisal Rathore
Faisal Rathore is the son of former Prime Minister of Azad Kashmir Mumtaz Hussain Rathore and Begum Farhat Rathore, who herself was a member of the Azad Kashmir Legislative Assembly and the President of the PPP Women’s Wing.
His father, Mumtaz Hussain Rathore, served as a Senior Minister after the 1975 elections, Prime Minister in 1990, Leader of the Opposition in 1991, and Speaker of the Legislative Assembly in 1996.
After the death of Mumtaz Hussain Rathore, his eldest son, Masood Mumtaz Rathore, was elected as a Member of the Legislative Assembly for the remaining term in 1999.
Faisal Rathore received his early education from Rawalpindi and completed his graduation from Punjab University.
Faisal Rathore first contested elections from LA-17 Haveli Kahuta in 2006. In the 2011 elections, he was elected as a member of the Legislative Assembly on a Pakistan Peoples Party ticket and served as the Minister of Education and Minister of Electricity in the cabinet of Chaudhry Abdul Majeed. In 2016, he was arrested in a political case, but was later found innocent.
On March 23, 2017, Faisal Rathore was appointed Secretary General of the Pakistan Peoples Party Azad Kashmir, and has held this position to this day.
He was elected as a member of the Legislative Assembly for the second time in the 2021 elections and played a strong opposition role.
In 2023, he was elected as the Minister for Local Government and Rural Development in the coalition government of Chaudhry Anwarul Haq and was also appointed as the head of the negotiation committee with the Awami Action Committee.
PML-N to Back PPP in No-Confidence Motion Against AJK PM: Rana Sanaullah
Earlier, Rana Sanaullah confirmed that the PML-N will support the PPP in bringing a no-confidence motion against the AJK Prime Minister.
Adviser to the Prime Minister on Political Affairs, Rana Sanaullah, announced that the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) has decided to support the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) in the no-confidence motion against AJK Prime Minister Anwarul Haq.
Speaking to the media alongside Federal Minister Ahsan Iqbal and PPP leader Qamar Zaman Kaira, Sanaullah stated that the PML-N will not join the government formed after the no-confidence motion and will instead take its place on the opposition benches.
PML-N & PPP to Bring No-Confidence Motion Against AJK Govt
PPP leader Qamar Zaman Kaira announced on Monday that his party and the PML-N have reached an agreement to bring a no-confidence motion against the government in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK).
Speaking at a press conference alongside Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal and Adviser to the Prime Minister on Political Affairs Rana Sanaullah, Kaira said, “It has been decided that the current AJK government, which we both parties were part of, has become a basis of creating a crisis instead of solving problems.”
He added that crises of such magnitude had occurred twice before, requiring intervention from the federal government.
“Now there is a consensus of opinion that a no-confidence motion will be brought against it on which the PPP and PML-N will be together,” Kaira stated.
