International

PoK Premier removed

ISLAMABAD: Almost unnoticed in the post-Mumbai fallout, there has been a change in the leadership in the Pakistan-occupied Kashmir too, but the manner in which it was effected was quite different from the change of guard in Jammu and Kashmir.

Earlier this week, after months of political intrigue, Sardar Attiq Ahmed Khan was removed as the Prime Minister of the territory by means of a no-confidence vote passed in the legislative assembly of “Azad Jammu and Kashmir” on Tuesday.

Mr. Khan, whose Muslim Conference government was seen as a Musharraf-era leftover, was replaced by Sardar Yaqoob Khan from the so-called “forward bloc” of the party that rebelled against him. In the 49-seat assembly, as many as 32 legislators voted against Mr. Khan. The no-confidence motion was also backed by legislators of the local Pakistan People’s Party, known as the People’s Party of Azad Jammu and Kashmir.

No political set-up in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir can survive without the backing of Islamabad. At his ouster, the toppled Prime Minister raised a cry against “interference” by the federal government in the territory’s politics which he said was threatening to destroy the political parties of the region.

But, Mr. Khan’s election in 2006 — he first came to power in 2001 after the PPAJK government was sacked — was itself seen as engineered by then President Pervez Musharraf. He was helped by a timely split in the PPAJK, which the party blamed on the military regime in Islamabad. He was an ardent supporter of General Musharraf’s Kashmir policies, and said recently his proposals were based on “wisdom.”

The downfall of the government was a foregone conclusion when Mr. Khan unsuccessfully tried to meet President Asif Ali Zardari some days ago.

© Copyright 2000 - 2009 The Hindu