MUZAFFARABAD: Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Raja Faisal Mumtaz Rathore has been elected as the 16th Leader of the House of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, receiving 36 votes. A no-confidence motion was passed against the Prime Minister of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Chaudhry Anwarul Haq. In total, 36 votes were cast in favour of the motion, with two votes against it. Following the announcement of the results, Prime Minister Anwarul Haq and his supporters walked out of the assembly.
Assembly Speaker Chaudhry Latif Akbar declared the counting results. 17 PPP MLAs, 10 supported the no-confidence motion, PTI Forward Bloc MLAs, and 9 PML-N MLAs, while the Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Party and the Muslim Conference abstained from voting.
Newly Elected Prime Minister of AJK, Faisal Mumtaz Rathore
Faisal Mumtaz Rathore is the son of former Prime Minister of Azad Kashmir, Mumtaz Hussain Rathore, and Begum Farhat Rathore, who was also a member of the Azad Kashmir Legislative Assembly and the President of the PPP Women’s Wing. His father, Mumtaz Hussain Rathore, held various positions, including Senior Minister after the 1975 elections, Prime Minister in 1990, Leader of the Opposition in 1991, and Speaker of the Legislative Assembly in 1996. After the death of Mumtaz Hussain Rathore, his eldest son, Masood Mumtaz Rathore, was elected as a Member of the Legislative Assembly to complete the remaining term in 1999.
Education
Faisal Rathore received his early education in Rawalpindi and graduated from Punjab University.
Political Journey
Faisal Rathore first contested elections in 2006 from LA-17 Haveli Kahuta. He was elected to the Legislative Assembly on a Pakistan Peoples Party ticket in the 2011 elections and served as the Minister of Education and the Minister of Electricity in the cabinet of Chaudhry Abdul Majeed. In 2016, he faced arrest in a political case but was later found innocent. On March 23, 2017, Faisal Rathore was appointed Secretary General of the Pakistan Peoples Party Azad Kashmir, a position he continues to hold.
He was re-elected to the Legislative Assembly in the 2021 elections and played a significant role as an opposition leader. In 2023, he became the Minister for Local Government and Rural Development in the coalition government of Chaudhry Anwarul Haq and was also appointed as the head of the negotiation committee with the Awami Action Committee.
Faisal Mumtaz Rathore is well-regarded in both political and military circles, as well as among the public, due to his conciliatory, soft-spoken, and non-controversial demeanour.
