Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s scheduled visit to the Pakistan administered Kashmir (PaK) capital to attend a party meeting was cancelled for the second time on Wednesday, this time due to inclement weather.
Sharif had to chair the inaugural meeting of 20-member parliamentary board, constituted to award PML-N tickets for the forthcoming PaK elections. The meeting was arranged at the residence of Raja Farooq Haider, PML-N PaK chapter president and leader of the opposition in AJK assembly, in the heart of Muzaffarabad.
Earlier, Sharif was scheduled to fly into Muzaffarabad on Tuesday. However, the visit was put off due to the joint sitting of Parliament in Islamabad. Later, it was announced that the prime minister would fly to the PaK capital at the conclusion of Pakistan Day ceremony in Islamabad.
All arrangements for the meeting were once again finalised, including preparation of prime minister’s favourite Kashmiri dishes.
Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) chief minister Hafeez ur Rehman, PML-N leader Siddiqul Farooq and several other board members from AJK had also arrived to attend the meeting.However, bad weather came in the way of the meeting.
“Inclement weather in Murree and Abbottabad has hampered the VVIP flight,” said Chaudhry Tariq Farooq MLA, who is party’s senior vice president in PaK. “Since the weather over the next few days will also remain unfavourable, I can say the meeting has been postponed until an unspecified period,” he added.
Meanwhile, speaking to reporters at the residence of Haider, the GB chief minister has expressed delight at his nomination as the member of the parliamentary board for AJK polls. He said he was quite confident that the PML-N would sweep the upcoming PaK polls.
“Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has special attachment with Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan and both regions will become a role model of development in accordance with his vision,” he said.
To a question, he said the GB chapter of PML-N would actively take part in election campaign of its sister organisation in PaK. He said he felt as if he was in his second home. “People of Azad Kashmir have great amount of affection for us. Misunderstanding can vanish with frequent interactions,” he said.
Seconding him, Haider said people of PaK and GB were connected with each other through historical bonds, which needed to be revived in the interest of both regions.
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