Faisal Mumtaz Rathore sworn in on Tuesday as the 16th prime minister of Azad Jammu and Kashmir following a successful no-confidence motion against Chaudhry Anwarul Haq.
The oath-taking ceremony of Faisal Mumtaz Rathore was held at the President’s House in Muzaffarabad. Senior political figures, including PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, attended the event.
However, security measures prevented some leaders from entering, including KP Governor Faisal Karim Kundi, GB Governor Mehdi Shah, and former Prime Minister Sardar Tanveer Ilyas.
No-confidence motion against Anwarul Haq
Earlier on Monday, a no-confidence motion was tabled against Prime Minister Chaudhry Anwarul Haq during a session of the Azad Kashmir Assembly, chaired by Speaker Chaudhry Latif Akbar.
The motion, submitted by Sardar Javed Ayub, Chaudhry Qasim Majeed, and others, proposed Faisal Mumtaz Rathore as the new Leader of the House. The motion required at least 27 votes to succeed. In the vote, 36 members supported Rathore, while only two voted against.
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Anwarul Haq, who assumed office in April 2023 with 48 votes, opted to face the motion rather than resign.
Bilawal's speech
Addressing party workers, Bilawal said Kashmiri voters had never disappointed him whenever he reached out for support in Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Kashmir.
He accused previous governments of robbing PPP of its mandate, saying a PTI setup was formed “by stealing our rights,” while mandates were “snatched twice” during other political administrations, including the PDM period.
Bilawal remarked that past decisions had created a political vacuum in Kashmir, adding that “just as fish cannot live without water, Kashmiri politics cannot survive without PPP.”
The PPP chairman urged Prime Minister Faisal Mumtaz Rathore to resolve internal party issues as well as the public’s problems.
He emphasised that Kashmiri issues must be addressed within the constitutional ambit of the federal government, expressing confidence that “a political government will secure the rights of the people.”
Reiterating the party’s ideology, he said, “You know the religion of PPP — the source of power is the people.” He added that the next six months would be a crucial test for the PPP government in Azad Kashmir.
“We will struggle together,” he said, promising united political efforts.
Rathore promises open courts
In his address, Prime Minister Faisal Mumtaz Rathore vowed to open the doors of the Prime Minister’s House and offices to the public.
“The doors of the Prime Minister will be open — completely open,” he said, promising that open courts would begin immediately and that issues requiring urgent action would be resolved without delay.
He assured that his government would not operate “from closed rooms” and pledged transparency at every level.
Bilawal also targeted India, saying the country faced a “humiliating defeat in May” and can “no longer present itself at international forums.”
“You know how many of your planes were shot down,” he said, adding that attempts to create rifts between PPP and the people of Kashmir had failed.
Rathore, meanwhile, thanked the PPP leadership as well as the PML-N for supporting him in the recent no-confidence vote.
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.jpg&w=256&q=75 "Holiday announced on July 22")
