A no-confidence motion against Azad Jammu and Kashmir Prime Minister Chaudhry Anwarul Haq succeeded on Monday with 36 votes in favour and two against. Assembly Speaker Chaudhry Latif Akbar pronounced PPP’s Raja Faisal Mumtaz Rathore as the new AJK premier.
Rathore is the 16th prime minister elected in AJK since 1975, when the parliamentary form of government was introduced in the region.
Who is the new AJK PM?
Rathore is currently the PPP AJK chapter’s general secretary and is considered a trusted confidant of PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari.
A senior figure in PPP’s AJK chapter, Rathore has long been associated with the region’s politics.
Born on April 11, 1978, in Rawalpindi, he is the son of the late Raja Mumtaz Hussain Rathore, a former AJK prime minister who also served as senior minister, leader of the opposition and speaker of the Legislative Assembly at various stages of his political career.
His mother, Begum Farhat Rathore, belonged to a migrant family from Indian-occupied Kashmir; she was a member of the state legislature and headed the PPP Women’s Wing.
The Rathore family, based in AJK’s remote Haveli district, is regarded among the founding political families of the PPP in Azad Kashmir.
Rathore completed his early education in Rawalpindi and graduated from the University of the Punjab. After the death of his father, his elder brother Masood Mumtaz Rathore was elected to the AJK Legislative Assembly in 1999 for the remainder of the term.
He first entered electoral politics in 2006 from LA-17 Haveli Kahuta. He won his first assembly seat in the 2011 general elections on a PPP ticket and later served in the cabinet of then-prime minister Chaudhry Abdul Majeed as minister for AJK Logging and Sawmills Corporation and minister for electricity.
In 2016, he was arrested in what was widely viewed as a politically motivated case but was subsequently exonerated.
The politician was appointed secretary general of the PPP AJK chapter on March 23, 2017, a position he continues to hold.
In the 2021 elections, he returned to the assembly and remained an active voice on the opposition benches.
In 2023, Rathore joined the coalition government led by Haq as minister for Local Government and Rural Development and was also tasked with heading the government’s negotiation committee with the Jammu Kashmir Joint Awami Action Committee.
Known for his soft-spoken, conciliatory and non-controversial disposition, he is seen as a figure who maintains working relationships across political and administrative circles. He has also worked in national media, hosting a regular programme on a private TV channel.
Within the PPP, he is considered a trusted confidant of Faryal Talpur and is viewed as a representative of the party’s ideological and middle-class cadre.
