Who is Faisal Mumtaz Rathore, PPP’s pick for AJK prime minister?

Pakistan Peoples’ Party (PPP) has confirmed that they will table the no confidence motion in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) assembly today. PPP leaders also confirmed that Faisal Mumtaz Rathore has been nominated as PPP’s candidate for the new AJK Prime Minister.

Faisal Mumtaz Rathore was born on April 11, 1978 in Rawalpindi. He is a prominent political leader from Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) and a senior figure in the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP). He belongs to one of the most influential political families in AJK.

Faisal Mumtaz Rathore is the son of Mumtaz Hussain Rathore, a major political figure who served as Senior Minister in 1975, Prime Minister of AJK in 1990, Leader of the Opposition in 1991, and Speaker of the Legislative Assembly in 1996.

His mother, Begum Farhat Rathore, was also a parliamentarian as well as president of the PPP Women’s Wing in AJK. The Rathore family is considered one of the founding families of the PPP in Kashmir and has shaped the region’s politics for decades.

He received his early education in Rawalpindi and graduated from University of the Punjab. His political career began in 2006 when he first contested from LA-17 Haveli Kahuta. He was elected to the AJK Legislative Assembly in 2011 on a PPP ticket. He served as a minister in Chaudhry Abdul Majeed’s cabinet.

In 2016 he was arrested in a political case, but was later acquitted. On March 23, 2017 he was elected as the Secretary General of PPP AJK, and he still holds that position. He was re-elected MLA in 2021, and played an active role in the opposition. In 2023, he was appointed as the Minister for Local Government and Rural Development in the coalition government of Chaudhry Anwarul Haq.

He has also served as head of the PPP negotiation committee with the Awami Action Committee.

Faisal Mumtaz Rathore is widely regarded as soft-spoken, non-controversial and a consensus-builder. He is considered as one of the closest and most trusted party leaders of PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and Faryal Talpur. His standing is strong in political, public, and even military circles.

Alongside his political career, Rathore has extensive experience in national media and has regularly hosted programs on private television channels.