PML-N nominates Shah Ghulam Qadir as AJK opp leader

MUZAFFARABAD: The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) chapter has nominated party president Shah Ghulam Qadir as its candidate for Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Assembly.

According to party sources, the decision was finalised by the PML-N’s central leadership. The PML-N Azad Kashmir parliamentary party is expected to meet Speaker Chaudhry Latif Akbar later today to formally advance the nomination.

Parliamentary leader Raja Farooq will submit the written request to the Speaker on behalf of the party. Sources within the assembly say the PML-N currently stands as the second-largest party in the House, following the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP).

RECENT POLITICAL SHAKE-UP

The development comes just days after a major shift in Azad Kashmir’s political landscape. On November 18, newly elected Prime Minister Faisal Mumtaz Rathore took the oath of office during a ceremony held at the President House in Muzaffarabad. The oath was administered by Speaker Chaudhry Latif Akbar and attended by the Governors of Gilgit-Baltistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, PPP leader Faryal Talpur, lawmakers, and senior civil and military officials.

Rathore’s election followed the successful no-confidence motion against former prime minister Chaudhry Anwarul Haq. PPP’s Rathore, previously a member of Haq’s own cabinet, secured 36 votes, while only two votes were cast against him. The PPP had earlier claimed the support of 38 members for the motion.

As the new government settles in, PML-N’s move to nominate Shah Ghulam Qadir as Leader of the Opposition sets the stage for the next phase of political realignment in Azad Kashmir.