Nawaz Sharif weighs contenders for AJK premiership

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Nawaz Sharif has stepped up consultations over the formation of the next Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK)

LAHORE/MUZAFFARABAD: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Nawaz Sharif has stepped up consultations over the formation of the next Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) government, with Shah Ghulam Qadir and Tariq Farooq emerging as leading contenders for the prime minister’s position.

A meeting chaired by Nawaz Sharif discussed the political situation in AJK, possible candidates for the top provincial office and the party’s future strategy in the region. Sources said the PML-N leadership is expected to choose one of the two senior leaders as its candidate for AJK prime minister.

The meeting also reviewed Pakistan’s broader political situation, the health of PTI founder Imran Khan and recent Supreme Court decisions.

Separately, the PML-N’s parliamentary party in AJK met to finalise its strategy for elections to the Legislative Assembly’s reserved seats. The meeting was led by PML-N AJK president Shah Ghulam Qadir and attended by Federal Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Tariq Fazal Chaudhry and Senator Anusha Rahman.

Participants reaffirmed their confidence in Nawaz Sharif, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz. A resolution adopted at the meeting pledged to focus on development, law and order, merit, justice and constitutional supremacy in AJK.

The resolution also reiterated the party’s support for the accession of Kashmir to Pakistan and expressed solidarity with the Kashmiri people. It called for the Kashmir dispute to be settled in accordance with United Nations resolutions.

The PML-N parliamentary party also praised the armed forces for their role in protecting the country and expressed confidence in the electoral process in AJK.

The incoming government, according to the resolution, would work to improve security, restart stalled development projects and introduce policies aimed at improving public welfare.

Meanwhile, six candidates are contesting five women’s reserved seats in the AJK Legislative Assembly. The candidates include PML-N nominees Riffat Abid, Sehrish Qamar, Maryam Idrees and Maryam Zaman, also known as Maryam Kashmiri, along with PPP candidates Farzana Yaqoob and Zobia Khurshid Raja.

Seven candidates had initially submitted nomination papers, but PPP’s Shaheen Kosar Dar later withdrew from the race.

For the Ulema and Mashaikh reserved seat, PPP’s Hafiz Tariq Mahmood is facing PML-N’s Mohammad Mazhar Saeed.

The technocrats and professionals seat is being contested by PML-N’s Barrister Syed Iftikhar Gillani and PPP’s Sahibzada Zulfiqar Ali.

PML-N candidate Chaudhry Abdul Rehman Arain has already been elected unopposed to the seat reserved for state subjects living abroad, as no other candidate filed nomination papers.

Polling for the women’s, Ulema and Mashaikh, and technocrats and professionals seats is scheduled from 10am to 1pm at the Assembly Hall in Muzaffarabad.

The newly elected AJK Legislative Assembly is due to meet at 2pm. Members will take their oath from outgoing Speaker Chaudhry Latif Akbar, who lost his seat in the recent elections