PML-N lawmakers refuses to support PPP in AJK govt formation: Sources

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) lawmakers have defied the central leadership regarding the possibility of an in-house change in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK).

According to the sources, the PML-N’s AJK parliamentary party refused to vote for the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) candidate in a possible no-confidence motion, set to move soon in the AJK Legislative Assembly.

Earlier on Monday, PML-N Senator Rana Sanaullah said that his party will back the PPP in bringing a no-confidence motion against the government in Azad Jammu and Kashmir.

Sanaullah also criticised the incumbent government, saying it has failed in discharging its duties and responsibilities, and the vacuum created by a lack of governance led to multiple crisis-like situations in the region.

The PM’s Advisor on Political Affairs also said that the PML-N will support PPP for an in-house change, but would sit in the opposition.

Last week, President Asif Ali Zardari approved the plan to form the government. After he met with the AJK lawmakers, President Zardari also spoke with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to take him into confidence.

The AJK Legislative Assembly has 52 members, and to achieve a simple majority, a party requires the support of 27 members. Presently, the PPP has 17 seats, the PML-N nine, the PTI four, and the Muslim Conference and Jammu Kashmir Peoples Party each have one member.