ISLAMABAD: Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) on Friday nominated regional general secretary Faisal Mumtaz Rathore as its candidate for the office of Azad Kashmir’s prime minister and announced that it will submit a no-confidence motion against incumbent Prime Minister Chaudhry Anwar ul Haq.
Addressing a joint news conference, former prime minister and senior PPP leader Raja Pervez Ashraf, along with PPP Azad Kashmir President Chaudhry Yasin, announced that the party had decided to table a no-confidence motion and form the government in Azad Kashmir. “For this purpose, we have nominated Faisal Rathore as our candidate,” they said.
“The next prime minister of Azad Kashmir will be from the PPP. We will bring relief to the problems of our Kashmiri brothers and sisters,” Ashraf added.
Chaudhry Yasin said the PPP was in a position to form the government on its own strength. “If we have the numbers, we don’t need anyone’s support,” he stated. He added that PPP founder and former prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto had taken a bold stance on Kashmir as foreign minister, while the late Benazir Bhutto had also given special importance to the issue. “The PPP is the strongest party in both occupied and Azad Kashmir,” he claimed.
Calling the situation in Azad Kashmir “very difficult,” Yasin said that its short-lived governments “are not a bed of flowers.” Outlining the numbers, he said the PPP already holds the golden figure of 27 seats—enough for a simple majority in the AJK Legislative Assembly to oust the current administration. “If members of the PML-N join, the number will rise to 40,” he added, expressing confidence in forming the government with Rathore at the helm.
Faisal Mumtaz Rathore has been elected multiple times to the AJK Legislative Assembly and has previously served as Minister for Electricity as well as Minister for Local Government and Rural Development.
Born on April 11, 1978, in Rawalpindi, Rathore hails from a prominent political family long associated with the PPP. His father, the late Mumtaz Hussain Rathore, was a former prime minister of AJK and held several key positions, including senior minister, leader of the opposition, and speaker of the Legislative Assembly.
His mother, Begum Farhat Rathore, was also an MLA and served as head of the PPP Women’s Wing in AJK. Since 2017, Faisal Rathore has served as Secretary General of PPP AJK. He entered electoral politics in 2006, won his first seat in 2011, and later served as Minister for Education and Minister for Electricity.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
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