MUZAFFARABAD: Chaudhry Anwarul Haq, backed by both the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), has been elected as the 15th Prime Minister of Azad Jammu Kashmir (AJK) unopposed, as no candidate submitted nomination papers against him.
The sudden and unexpected development took place during an emergency meeting of AJK’s legislative assembly, which was held after midnight.
Chaudhry Anwarul Haq, who was previously serving as Speaker of the AJK Assembly, received a historic mandate, bagging 48 votes out of a 52-strong house, which is the biggest mandate in the history of the scenic valley’s legislative assembly.
During the emergency meeting, 15 minutes were given to submit the nomination papers from 12:40am to 12:55am. The vote took place after Haq was elected unopposed.
Haq received 12 votes each from PPP and forward bloc and seven votes of the PML-N. However, in his inaugural address to the assembly following his election, he said that he contested the election as an independent candidate, emphasizing that he garnered the support of both the PDM and PTI members. Chaudhry also struck a chord with opposition parties and set a power-sharing formula in concert with them.
Chowdhury Anwarul Haq was elected as Member of Assembly from Bhimber, and served as Speaker Assembly twice. He is the brother of former Corps Commander Gujranwala General Ikram Haq.
It may be recalled that PTI-backed candidate Sardar Tanveer Ilyas was disqualified by the AJK High Court in a contempt case.
