PPP nominates Faisal Mumtaz Rathore for AJK Prime Minister

Muzaffarabad: The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) has officially nominated senior party leader Faisal Mumtaz Rathore as its candidate for the office of Prime Minister of Azad Jammu & Kashmir (AJK), a move widely interpreted as an attempt to bring stability, experience and consensus-driven governance to the region.

Rathore, born on 11 April 1978 in Rawalpindi, is a multi-term Member of the AJK Legislative Assembly and currently serves as Secretary General of PPP AJK. His nomination is being viewed as a natural progression of a political career rooted in public service, party organisation and regional development.

Rathore hails from a family that has played a central role in AJK’s political evolution. His late father held several key positions—including Prime Minister, Speaker, Opposition Leader and Senior Minister of AJK—placing the younger Rathore in close proximity to governance from an early age. The family is also counted among the founding pillars of PPP in AJK, giving him a strong ideological grounding in the Kashmir cause and the dynamics of AJK–Pakistan relations.

Having been elected multiple times as MLA, Rathore brings substantial parliamentary experience. His tenures as Minister for Electricity and Minister for Local Government & Rural Development gave him hands-on exposure to policy implementation, service delivery and infrastructure development.

He has also spent a full term on the opposition benches, which observers say gives him a balanced understanding of oversight, accountability and bipartisan engagement.

Since 2017, Rathore has served as the Secretary General of PPP AJK, overseeing regional organisation, political strategy and party coordination. His long-standing working relationship with the party’s central leadership—especially Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and Faryal Talpur—is cited as evidence of his reliability and alignment with the party’s political roadmap.

Known for his soft-spoken, moderate and non-controversial public demeanor, Rathore is often described as a unifying figure capable of engaging across political, public and institutional circles. His appointment as head of the government’s negotiating committee in talks with the Awami Action Committee further highlighted his conflict-resolution capabilities.

His presence in national media  having hosted a programme on Bol TV has strengthened his public communication skills and broadened his outreach beyond AJK.

Political analysts note that Rathore’s combination of democratic legacy, multi-term legislative experience, cabinet-level governance roles, party organisational leadership and negotiation expertise makes him one of PPP’s most seasoned leaders in AJK.

His moderate temperament and media familiarity add to his suitability for a role that demands both administrative capability and broad stakeholder engagement.

If elected, Faisal Mumtaz Rathore is expected to bring a consensus-based, development-focused and institutionally grounded approach to the office of Prime Minister of AJK.