The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) has finalized Chaudhry Yaseen as its candidate for Prime Minister of Azad Kashmir. Sources said the decision was made during a central leadership meeting chaired by PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari. The meeting included PPP’s Azad Kashmir leadership and discussed potential in-house changes.
During the meeting, the party considered four names for the top post: Chaudhry Yaseen, Latif Akbar, Faisal Mumtaz Rathore, and Sardar Yaqub Khan. After discussion, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari officially selected Chaudhry Yaseen. The party is expected to announce the candidate formally by tonight.
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The decision follows a recent meeting in Islamabad between President Asif Ali Zardari, the Kashmir Affairs Committee, and senior leaders from PPP and PML-N. They discussed the current political situation in Azad Kashmir and the possibility of an in-house government change.
Federal Planning Minister and PML-N leader Ahsan Iqbal said his party will stay in opposition but will support PPP in the no-confidence motion. Meanwhile, PTI Secretary General Salman Akram Raja criticized PPP and PML-N, calling them “two sides of the same coin,” and said the opposition has no real plan in the Azad Kashmir Assembly.
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In the Azad Kashmir Assembly, PPP needs 27 members to form the government. The party originally had 17 seats. After 10 members of the PTI Azad Kashmir Forward Block joined PPP, the party now has enough support to form a government.