No law and Loyalty; Why AJK Needs an Anti-Defection Framework Now
Raja Saud Ahmed Khan is a student of Law. He can be reached at
saudahemed110@gmail.com.
In AJK’s corridors of power, loyalty has a price tag, everyone can be sold and the bidding never
stops. With a wave of party hopping towards the PPP, Azad Kashmir’s political scene is once
again in churn. This is not a realignment rather, it’s a repetition. In the past few weeks, the
political landscape of AJK is once again resembling a theatre. The elected representatives have
starting to hop along the party lines without any shame. As bewildered public watch their vote
and trust go to waste in awe, the vote casted in good faith has been sacrificed in the backroom
deals. The absence of anti-defection, party hopping and floor crossing laws in AJK has turned
a democracy into a show of political opportunism where loyalty is shifted not by ideology or
principle but by power, interest or bradrism.
The constitution od Pakistan 1973 has a clause 63A to penalize defection. In contrast, AJK’s
interim constitution, which to some degree, mimics Pakistan’s constitution has no such law. It
means that there are no consequences whatsoever when a legislator jumps parties. This results
in a volatile, loyalty free political environment which is steered by anything but a concrete
political ideology. So instead of being held as accountable, legislators move forward towards
power brokers, ministries and dealmakers. Behind left are the people with representatives who
no longer represent their will. In July 2025, 4 PTI lawmakers left their original party for their
rival party, PMLN and PPP. A reference against them was filed by party’s leadership with
speaker AJK assembly Chaudhary Latif Akbar and Chief election commission of AJK.
Besides, increasing defection habituation undermines sanctity of a voter’s vote which in turn
hollows democratic spirit. Representatives are chosen by the people on the basis of mandate,
ideology and leadership vision. When a legislator is defected midterm, voter’s trust is shattered.
Its not just a change in party affiliation rather it’s a breach of contract the voter had with its
representative. In AJK, this heinous practice is a new normal and has embolden legislator to
betray its own voter as disposable waste. Such kind of actions leave followers often politically
orphaned. Also, it sets a bad precedent for the left-out youth to follow short term gains
compromising on ethics and ideology. Over the course of time, it fosters lower voter turnout
and true leadership crisis.
Defection or party hopping, driven by genuine ideological awakening can be justified but in
the case of AJK politics, its not true at all. Rather it is taken as a calculated move for personal
gains, ministries, funds or power accumulation. In July incident, the defectors were driven
towards parties positioned at better chances of forming government and distribution of
resources. This is called benefiting from political opportunism. Such acts hollow the spirit of
democracy, a system designed for uplifting the people and serving the public interest through
good governance. Instead, the political theatre of AJK is now converted into a form of Turkish
Bazar where loyalties of legislators are auctioned to the highest bidder. These transactional
political practices foster a culture where long term policy and planning are sacrificed at the
bargain of short term personal or political gains.
The adverse effect of absence of anti-defection clauses in AJK constitution enables the
environment for political engineering as well. Already there is a widespread belief which is
true to some degree that change in the government in federal capital shuffles the pieces at the
chessboard of AJK politics too. Thus, without legal deterrents, incentivising defections is a
way to destabilize governments to manipulate the electoral mandate. This practice is a recurring
thing in AJK’s politics where coalitions are shaped by backroom deals not by public will.
However, the dynamic is complex in AJK as the clan ties or bradrism is too strong of a force
which aids a lot in these coalitions resulting later in defections. Such acts and tactics resultantly
weaken institutional credibility. This, in turn produces a very fragile and unstable political
environment ensuring that no government can function without fear of losing alliances. To sum
up, this instability hampers policy making as well but also distracts legislators from governance
thus locking AJK in permanent cycle of political manipulation.
To cope up with defection and party hopping, there is a need of an intact legislative framework
ensuring that the legislator maintains the sanctity of vote. Lawmakers could look at the world
practices dealing with such a problem like something similar to article 63A of Pakistan’s
constitution which disqualifies defectors form parliament after explanation of their actions. Or
a separate category like defection dockets could be made acting as online registers to publicly
shame serial defectors. Basically, it will be tracking legislators who have switched parties along
with the reason, voting record changes and the benefits they received afterward. If anti
defection law is in fact introduced, firstly, it must clearly outline the definition of defection so
not to confuse it with floor crossing or party hopping. Secondly, it should cover all categories
from defection, floor crossing, party hopping and independents joining political parties post
elections.
Only by aligning a proper framework with democratic principles, this clown show in AJK can
be stopped, setting strong political foundations for a better tomorrow. The one where our youth
have a leadership with principles and morals driven by a single political ideology rather than
short term gains. Failing to legislate against anti defection sets precedent for the youth that
principle is optional but opportunism is essential in the political realm of AJK.
