Third round of AJK elections mar by delays and security fears

Tariq Butt / Reuters

The third round of regional elections in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) was marred by ​delays and security ⁠concerns on Monday, weeks after deadly protests erupted in the region and ‌authorities imposed sweeping restrictions.

Clashes in the ‌region have led to road closures and an internet blackout, posing a sensitive challenge for Pakistan.

Monday's vote was supposed to be the final of three election rounds. But authorities ⁠postponed polls in seven of the 11 remaining constituencies late last week to an undetermined date "after reviewing a report about the law-and-order situation," Raja Shakeel, a local Election Commission official, told Reuters in a phone interview.

The ruling Pakistan Muslim League (N) has already won 24 of the 34 seats contested in earlier rounds of voting and is on course to form the regional government.

But it has faced ​accusations of rigging, including by chief competitor the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP). The two parties have ‌been allied on the national stage since 2024 and disputes in Kashmir have the potential to erode their fragile coalition.

"Polling in many voting places was delayed," Hassan Murtaza, a PPP leader, said, citing ⁠it as an indication of electoral fraud.

Rana Sanaullah, a PML-N leader, rejected the accusations as "baseless," adding that the PML-N "will form a government."

Meanwhile, Minister for Kashmir Affairs Amir Muqam urged PPP to review the number of people attending their rallies instead of accusing others of rigging, insisting that PPP lacked support from the people of AJK. “AJK’s people have supported PML-N,” Muqam asserted.

Candidates affiliated with the party that won the previous elections five years ago, jailed ​former PM ‌Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI), have boycotted the polls over allegations of rigging.

Protests in the region ‌have turned deadly in recent weeks. After the first round of voting in late July, leaders of the Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC) said more than 30 people had been killed around one town, Rawalakot, in clashes ‌with security forces.

Reuters was ‌unable to independently verify the death toll. Road and ⁠internet access to the town remains largely cut off.

The JAAC has rallied ‌its supporters against longstanding electoral rules in the region and was banned by the regional government in June.

Twelve of the 45 directly elected seats in the local legislative ⁠assembly are reserved for constituencies representing what the regional constitution defines as refugees from Indian-administered ​Kashmir. But these seats have often been filled by people living outside the region, and the JAAC has accused Islamabad of using them to manipulate local politics - accusations Pakistani ⁠government officials have rejected.

Days before its exit from power, the incumbent PPP government in AJK has appointed seven members to AJK Public Service Commission (PSC) that has raised questions about its propriety and timing.

An official notification said that the appointments were made by the government in exercise of the powers conferred under Article 48(2) of the AJK Interim Constitution, 1974.

Those appointed include former secretaries Munir Hussain Chaudhary, Dr Chaudhry Liaqat Hussain and Mohammad Zahid Abbasi from the quota of retired government servants in grade-20 and above; former professor Dr Abdul Qadoos Khan and former vice chancellor Dr Abdul Hameed from the quota of educationists; former additional chief secretary Midhat Shehzad from the quota of women; and retired medical specialist Dr Mohammad Saleem Khan from the quota of professionals.

Under the PSC Act, seven members are to be appointed from among retired civil servants or other outstanding persons with a good reputation and an educational qualification of at least graduation from a recognised university. Three members are to be appointed from among educationists or scholars having a good reputation and at least 10 years' experience in teaching, administration or both.

The new members will have a three-year term and will be entitled to draw pay and allowances as prescribed, the notification said, adding that their appointments would take effect from the date they took oath of their respective offices.