MUZAFFARABAD: Pak­is­tan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) lawmakers in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) on Sunday constituted a three-member committee to take decisions on the party’s course of action vis-à-vis legal and constitutional matters in the ongoing volatile political situation in the territory.

Comprising former senior minister Khawaja Farooq Ahmed, former law minister Sardar Faheem Akhtar Rabbani and former adviser on information Chaudhry Rafique Nayyar, the committee announced it would challenge a clandestinely promulgated ordinance by the Chaudhry Anwarul Haq-led government to “legitimize lotacracy” in the state.

Legal experts said that unlike Pakistan where Article 63-A of the Constitution provided a comprehensive procedure regarding defection of an assembly member, the issue of floor-crossings was dealt in AJK by subordinate legislation.

If a person elected as MLA as a nominee of a political party withdraws himself from that political party he shall stand disqualified from being an MLA from the date of such withdrawal for the remaining period of his term, unless he is re-elected in a by-election held after his disqualification, reads section 31 (3) of the AJK Elections Act, 2020.

PPP, PML-N deny reaching any understanding on premature dissolution of AJK Assembly

The next subsection carries the same penalty for an independent candidate after he joins any political party after his election as MLA.

According to the amended law, which was given retrospective effect from June 24, 2020, the disqualification shall take effect only after the MLA “joins some other party” after withdrawing himself from the party on whose ticket he had returned.

After his election on April 20 as the new leader of the house, Mr Haq in his maiden speech on the floor of the house had declared that he had contested the election for prime minister’s office as an independent candidate (rather than a PTI nominee) with the support of PPP, PML-N and his fellows in the forward bloc.

Political observers were of the opinion that since the PTI forward bloc had defied party policy by joining forces with PPP and PML-N, its members were afraid of losing their seats under section 31 (3) AJK Elections Act, 2020 which was why it had been amended with retrospective effect.

Ex-minister pins hope on court

Mr Ahmed told Dawn that he was quite hopeful of the annulment of the amended law. “That this ordinance is against the spirit of democracy and has been promulgated with mala-fide intent at this point of time is incontrovertible and therefore it’s bound to be quashed by the courts of law,” the former minister asserted while recalling a landmark high court judgement in an identical situation in the late 1980s.

Twelve PTI lawmakers named Mr Ahmed as the new leader of the opposition, but the assembly secretariat is yet to notify him as such. The position is still being held by PPP’s Chaudhry Latif Akbar despite the fact his party is part of the sitting coalition government.

No proposal for snap polls

Meanwhile, both the PPP and PML-N leadership on Sunday denied some TV channels claims that they had reached an understanding to hold snap elections in the state after premature dissolution of the assembly.

“No such proposal is under consideration at any level in our party,” PML-N regional president Shah Ghulam Qadir told Dawn.

He said though since long he had been in favour of holding elections across the country, including AJK and GB, simultaneously, but lately no such debate had been held by his party with any of the other stakeholders.

PPP regional president Chaudhry Mohammad Yasin also expressed his ignorance about any such understanding. “I don’t think any such thing has been agreed upon. Personally, I want every assembly to complete its constitutional term,” he told Dawn.

Credible sources in both the parties, who spoke to Dawn on condition of anonymity, said Mr Haq was in trouble on the issue of formation of his cabinet “because most of the forward block members wanted the same (important) portfolios they were holding previously”.

“He desperately wants to do away with a constitutional bar to cabinet expansion so that he can strengthen his support based in the Assembly. However, that has become difficult following the PML-N leader Nawaz Sharif’s direction to his party to stay away from any such move,” one source said.

In a tweet, PML-N regional secretary general Chaudhry Tariq Farooq alleged Mr Haq had himself put out a feeler to scare his forward bloc.

“It’s obvious that Mr Haq is under immense pressure from the forward bloc to get the favorite ministries. Therefore, under a plan, such stories are being run through some TV channels to scare the forward bloc and bring it to terms,” he said.

“These reports are far from reality. PML-N has not held any meeting or discussion with the PPP leadership for the dissolution of AJK assembly and general elections in October,” he added.

Published in Dawn, May 8th, 2023