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| He crossed divide as Minister, went home sans flag | | | EARLY TIMES REPORT
Jammu, Oct 15: The fast picking up intra-Jammu and Kashmir bonhomie is leaving everyone engaged in the interactions with pleasant experiences but for the visiting Minister for Finance, Planning and Development from Pakistan administered Kashmir his recent tour to this side of the divide may go as an event not to be forgotten.
Choudhary Latief Akbar, the Finance Minister from PaK headed a delegation of political activists, traders, journalists and civil society activists that arrived in Jammu on October 8 for onward journey to Srinagar to attend an important intra-J&K conference. The delegation returned to Jammu on October 13 and left for PaK via Wagah-Lahore-Islamabad this morning but at the point of departure Choudhary Latief Akbar was no more a Minister. The PaK ‘Prime Minister’, as the executive head of the state is known there, resigned today following a no-confidence motion moved against his coalition government on October 12.
Sources close to Akbar during his J&K tour told Early Times that he was much needed back home in the hour of crisis but his prior commitments in J&K kept him away. He could take just one phone call that informed him about the latest political developments on the late night of October 12 but could call back the ‘Prime Minister’ or any legislator there is no opportunity of telecommunication from J&K to other side of Line of Control.
“The coalition was very weak due to huge differences of opinion among the partners but my Prime Minister depended heavily on me to manage support for keeping government afloat for some more time”, a source attending Choudhary Latief quoted him as saying. Though the fall of government was much expected and much needed to pave way for a clear or at least better mandate through elections but Choudhary Latief’s absence from the political scene left him with regrets, said the source.
Reports reaching here suggested that keen to discourage horse-trading in the assembly and to promote a democratic tradition in the region, the PaK Prime Minister Sardar Yaqoob Khan finally resigned from his post.
Addressing a press conference after tendering his resignation, Khan said he was under no pressure to step down. “I took this decision to discourage horse-trading in the assembly and set democratic tradition aimed at promoting democracy in the state,” leading Pakistani newspaper The Dawn quoted Khan, as saying.
“I did not use my right to dissolve the assembly as I have always respected democracy and democratic traditions,” he added.
Responding to a question regarding the status of the cabinet after his resignation, Khan said the cabinet has been dissolved automatically upon his resignation, as per the constitution.
When asked whether he would once again contest in elections for Leader of the House, Khan said he would decide about it only after consulting the party leadership and his colleagues. “I will welcome anyone who gets elected as Leader of the House,” he added.
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