ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s ruling party on Monday defended the conduct of elections in Azad Kashmir, rejecting opposition allegations of rigging, while the Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC), which has led weeks of anti-government protests, called for the entire election process to be abandoned and fresh polls held after constitutional and political reforms.
The election, being held in three phases because of security concerns, has become one of the most contentious in Azad Kashmir in recent years. Former prime minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) is boycotting the vote, while the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) has alleged widespread rigging.
The campaign has also been overshadowed by weeks of unrest across Azad Kashmir, where protests led by JAAC, a civil rights group that was banned last month, have resulted in deadly clashes with security forces. The group’s opposition has increasingly focused on the territory’s 12 refugee constituencies, which are elected by refugees from Indian-administered Kashmir living elsewhere in Pakistan. JAAC and its supporters argue the seats give Islamabad undue influence over government formation in the territory, while authorities say they are constitutionally protected and can only be changed through a constitutional amendment.
Speaking at a televised news conference after the completion of the second phase of voting, Prime Minister’s Adviser on Political Affairs Rana Sanaullah said the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) had already secured enough seats to form the next government in Azad Kashmir. He also predicted his party would win either six or, at worst, five of the nine constituencies contested in the second phase.
“Our effort, God willing, is that the final outcome will be either 6–3 or 5–4, but, more importantly, these elections have been free and fair,” Sanaullah said.
He said the federal government and the AJK administration had worked to ensure the elections were “credible and acceptable” and dismissed PPP allegations the vote had been manipulated.
“We told them to take the matter to the Election Commission so a proper inquiry could be conducted,” the PM’s adviser said. “If the Election Commission found that re-polling was needed at one, two or four polling stations, it could order that. But instead, they continued pushing a political narrative.”
He also accused PPP supporters of working with JAAC to create unrest in Muzaffarabad before polling in an effort to suppress turnout in areas where the PML-N expected strong support.
“This was an undemocratic act and a dirty trick,” Sanaullah said, adding that his party would ask the Election Commission to investigate the incident.
The PPP has rejected the ruling party’s assertions, with chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari alleging widespread irregularities and accusing authorities of failing to ensure a level playing field. The party has demanded investigations into several constituencies and maintains that the election process has been compromised.
Unofficial results from the first two phases have put the PML-N ahead in the race to form the next AJK government, though the election will not conclude until voters in Poonch division cast their ballots in the third and final phase on Aug. 10.
JAAC DEMANDS
In a statement issued on Monday, JAAC said it did not recognize the ongoing election process and called for fresh elections to be held within 90 days after what it described as necessary political and constitutional reforms. The group said elections conducted under the existing framework could not produce a representative government and urged authorities to first address what it described as structural flaws in the electoral system.
Among its demands, JAAC called for the abolition of the 12 refugee constituencies, the release of detained activists, withdrawal of criminal cases and anti-terrorism charges against its members, implementation of an earlier agreement reached with the government on issues including electricity tariffs and subsidies, and the establishment of a judicial commission to investigate the deaths of protesters during recent unrest. It also demanded that an interim administration oversee fresh elections after the reforms are implemented.
JAAC rose to prominence as a grassroots movement campaigning against high electricity tariffs, taxes and the rising cost of living in Azad Kashmir before broadening its demands to include electoral reforms, particularly the abolition of the 12 refugee constituencies. The movement argues the refugee seats distort democratic representation because lawmakers are elected by refugees living elsewhere in Pakistan rather than residents of the territory.
The AJK government banned JAAC last month under anti-terrorism laws following weeks of protests and clashes with security forces. JAAC has rejected the ban as politically motivated and says it remains a peaceful movement.
In June, the Azad Kashmir Supreme Court ruled that the refugee constituencies are constitutionally protected and cannot be abolished without a constitutional amendment, dismissing petitions seeking their removal.
