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PoK prime minister under fire from own men

The People's Party government in Pakistan occupied Kashmir is under tremendous pressure to quit, despite the two-thirds majority it obtained during Benazir Bhutto's prime ministership.

Spearheading the anti-government campaign are the party's own stalwarts. They had made an unsuccessful attempt in December to bring about an in-house change in the government through a motion of no-confidence against Prime Minister Sultan Mehmud Choudhary.

Bhutto had chosen Choudhary to head the PoK government over Mumtaz Hussain Rathore, who was jailed by the army in 1990 when he was the PoK prime minister. Rathore was terribly annoyed with Bhutto's choice, specially because Sultan Mehmud is a supporter of the Liberation League which differs with the PPP on the Kashmir issue.

Sardar Abdul Qayyum Khan of the Muslim Conference, meanwhile, is trying to capitalise on the situation by joining hands with PPP dissidents, hoping to ride back to power. But Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharief, who has acted as Qayyum's godfather in the past, has upset him so much that he even accused Sharief of trying to work for ''Akhand Bharat'' (greater India).

Now all important Opposition parties, including the PPP dissidents, are forming an alliance to oust the Sultan Mehmud government. Recently the ruling party lost a by-election, indicating a drop in its popularity.

In addition to the Opposition campaign, the government is also faced with an economic crisis. The Opposition says it's because of wasteful expenditure by the government -- in fact, last month Nawaz Sharief warned Sultan Mehmud to tighten the government expenditure.

When Sharief visited Muzaffarabad last month, the Opposition gathered in large numbers to protest against the continuance of Mehmud's government. But the government took care to ensure that the Opposition leaders did not get to meet Sharief. Truckloads of police rained the protestors with sharp stones and teargas, and resorted to firing. It is said Sardar Qayyam was the target of the firing, but a supporter helped him escape.

Sardar Qayyum, meanwhile, is blaming the intelligence agencies for creating trouble in occupied Kashmir.

UNI

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