MUZAFFARABAD: A minister in the PPP-led Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) government has reportedly applied for the ticket of the opposition PML-N to contest the upcoming polls from a refugees’ constituency in Punjab, Dawn has learnt.

Minister for Industries Chaudhry Mohammad Akbar, better known as Akbar Ibrahim, sought a PML-N ticket on April 5, two days before he attended a cabinet meeting in Muzaffarabad, according to sources.

Mr Ibrahim was elected from LA-34 Jammu and others-V in the 2011 general election as a nominee of the PML-Q and since then he has been part of the cabinet, except for a brief period when a no-trust resolution was instituted against then Prime Minister Chaudhry Abdul Majeed in July 2013.

Minister for Industries Chaudhry Mohammad Akbar applied for the PML-N ticket on April 5

Despite being part of the PPP government for almost five years, Mr Ibrahim has decided to contest the next elections as a PML-N nominee, but without quitting the cabinet.

The PML-N had fixed March 25 as the last date for submitting applications for its tickets. Mr Ibrahim submitted his application along with the Rs35,000 fee, 10 days after the deadline, sources in the PML-N confided to Dawn.

When contacted, Mr Ibrahim said: “I have not submitted (the application) yet, but my local supporters want me to apply for the PML-N ticket. Our consultations with the local (Gujrat) chapter of N-League are under way. They (PML-N’s local chapter) have been asking me to seek their party’s ticket,” he claimed.

Asked if he would resign from the cabinet after “formally” seeking the PML-N ticket, he said: “Obviously, I will resign after I take a decision to this effect.”

Interestingly, two days after he reportedly submitted his application for the PML-N ticket, Mr Ibrahim attended the cabinet meeting in Muzaffarabad.

“It is unethical on the part of Mr Ibrahim to occupy a ministerial berth after applying for the PML-N ticket,” said the AJK PP’s media adviser Shaukat Javed Mir.

“If I were in the place of the prime minister, I would have sacked not only him but also those who have declined to accept PPP tickets despite holding party offices,” he added.

Mr Mir was referring to the party’s vice president and minister for rehabilitation Abdul Majid Khan and minister for Mangla Dam affairs Mohammad Hussain Sargala who are said to have decided to contest the forthcoming elections as independent candidates.

Published in Dawn, April 10th, 2016