The Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) High Court issued on Friday a restraining order on elections being conducted for a new AJK PM, it was reported. This comes a day after Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) Abdul Qayyum Niazi stepped down as AJK's PM, following a no-confidence motion filed against him by his party members.

The order was passed during a hearing conducted by a two-judge bench of the AJK high court, comprising Justice Shahid Bahar and Justice Sardar Ijaz. The court has restrained the Legislative Assembly from further proceedings till April 18 (Monday).

The high court announced the verdict based on a petition filed by PPP leaders Chaudhry Latif Akbar and Chaudhry Yasin, challenging the session of the AJK Assembly that was scheduled for today.

On Tuesday, Tanveer Ilyas group of the ruling PTI, bearing the signatures of 25 members of the AJK Legislative Assembly, had submitted a no-confidence motion against Niazi.

On Thursday, Abdul Qayyum Niazi sent his resignation to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan and President Dr Arif Alvi.

Senior Minister Sardar Tanveer Ilyas has been nominated as a candidate for the seat of PM. Meanwhile, the PPP AJK said it wants to table its own no-confidence motion against Niazi, along with PML-N.

PPP AJK central deputy information secretary Shaukat Javed Mir had earlier said the PTI has itself expressed no-confidence against its own government.

“We will out this government which was imposed on us through rigging”, he added.

Niazi was elected as the prime minister of the AJK on August 4, 2021. He received 33 votes, as he had the support of 32 lawmakers of the PTI and one from the Muslim Conference.

This story was originally published in Business Recorder on April 15, 2022.