MUZAFFARABAD: The Azad Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly on Tuesday witnessed heated exchanges as ministers’ absence during the early part of the sitting and an aggressive opposition prompted Speaker Chaudhry Latif Akbar to intervene on several occasions in government’s defence.

The session, which had been requisitioned by the joint opposition, began two hours behind schedule.

While 16 lawmakers were present on the opposition benches, the treasury side was represented by Finance Minister Chaudhry Qasim Majeed, who was accompanied by Javed Butt and Asim Sharif Butt from the refugee constituencies.

As proceedings got underway, Leader of the Opposition Shah Ghulam Qadir objected to the absence of ministers, arguing that since the sitting had been summoned at the opposition’s request, the government’s failure to ensure ministerial presence defeated its very purpose. “Completion of quorum does not absolve the government of accountability,” he said, asking whether ministers were afraid of responding to questions and stressing that the question hour could only be deferred in accordance with the rules.

Heated exchanges witnessed over allocations for roads, newspaper ads, etc.

Former prime minister Chaudhry Anwarul Haq, who sits on the opposition benches, said the matter was not about point-scoring and maintained that once the agenda had been circulated, the question hour could be postponed only through suspension of the relevant rules.

Echoing their views, ex-premier Raja Farooq Haider said it was the government’s responsibility to answer questions in a session requisitioned by the opposition. “It is the Speaker’s duty to ensure the government’s presence for accountability. This concerns the sanctity of the House,” he said, urging the chair not to respond on behalf of ministers.

In response, the Speaker remarked that if ministers were not present, he could hardly “produce them from somewhere”.

Debate intensified over a short-notice question moved by Mr Haq about allocation for 500km of roads under block provisions in the highways department. When the finance minister said the decisions had been taken during the ex-premier’s tenure, Mr Haq demanded production of the relevant notifications and warned that failure to provide answers could lead to a privilege motion.

On another short-notice question by opposition’s Sardar Mir Akbar regarding whether a high school could be upgraded directly to a degree college, Minister for Power Development Chaudhry Rasheed said the issue had already been discussed and that higher secondary schools could be granted degree status under policy, though Higher Education Minister Malik Zafar Iqbal later clarified that under the newly notified education policy — framed in light of directions from the Supreme Court — no institution would be upgraded without staff and infrastructure.

During the question hour, a list of 68 newspapers that had received government ads from January 2024 to June 2025 was tabled, but did not disclose the volume or value of the advertisements.

Forest Minister Sardar Javed Ayoub insisted that the written reply was clear and said a separate question should be submitted to seek details of the volume and value of the ads. He said there was no secret fund in the information department.

Published in Dawn, February 18th, 2026