AJK speaker calls for consensus on refugee seats; says Poonch talks under way
Azad Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly Speaker Chaudhry Tariq Farooq has called for a broad-based consensus on the future of the AJK refugee seats, urging political leaders to resolve the current crisis through dialogue and reforms. Speaking to journalists at the Speaker House in Muzaffarabad on Thursday, he said political leaders had an opportunity to align themselves with national objectives and find a way forward rather than dwelling on the past.
“Learning from mistakes is wisdom. We need to explore new avenues for the future,” he said, adding that he supported reforms in all institutions.
The call on AJK refugee seats touches one of the assembly’s most sensitive features: the seats reserved for displaced Kashmiris, whose future has been a recurring point of dispute. The speaker said the state president and the entire political leadership should come forward to find solutions through dialogue, and warned that a process of rendering political parties “irrelevant and ineffective” had begun during the previous assembly.
AJK refugee seats: subsidies stay, cabinet expansion waits
Mr Farooq said subsidies on electricity and flour would not be withdrawn, though relief and concessions should be targeted on the basis of data. The assurance matters for households across the region, where energy and food costs remain a daily worry.
He also drew a line between constitutional offices and the executive, saying that although power was influential, the assembly speaker was not part of the government, just as the state president was not. “The assembly is not the government; the cabinet and the prime minister constitute the government,” he said.
The government has been in office for only a few weeks, and the second phase of cabinet formation is still pending. It will be completed upon the return of PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif to Pakistan, the speaker said. He added that the government and cabinet had not been expanded because elections in seven constituencies of Poonch division were still pending, and without representation from those areas the government could not be considered complete and fully functional.
Poonch: informal negotiations under way
On the Poonch situation, Mr Farooq said informal negotiations were under way through the AJK president to improve law and order and ease tensions. He expressed the hope that backchannel contacts would produce positive results and urged the media to avoid speculation until the talks yielded an outcome.
He accused the PPP of attempting to exploit the Poonch situation for political gain during its brief stint in power, adding that the phased elections had been held with the party’s consent.
Mr Farooq recalled that he and some other PML-N leaders had called for a fact-finding commission a year ago to examine the circumstances contributing to the current situation, but no political party had supported the proposal.
The speaker’s remarks mark a new phase in the region’s politics after AJK leaders called for a peaceful resolution of the Poonch crisis. Nationally, the political temperature remains high, with the joint session endorsing governor’s rule in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari offering dialogue to the PTI, and Achakzai warning Sindh over the governor’s rule move.
Frequently asked questions
What did the AJK speaker say about refugee seats?
Chaudhry Tariq Farooq called for a broad-based political consensus on the future of refugee seats in the AJK Legislative Assembly, saying leaders should resolve the issue through dialogue and reforms.
Will electricity and flour subsidies continue in AJK?
Yes. The speaker said subsidies on electricity and flour would not be withdrawn, though relief should be targeted on the basis of data.
What is happening in Poonch?
The speaker said informal negotiations were under way through the AJK president to improve law and order and ease tensions, and he expressed hope the backchannel contacts would produce positive results.
