Azad Kashmir elections: PML-N wins 14 seats in second phase, gets simple majority to form government

Muzaffarabad – According to unofficial results, in the second phase of the Azad Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly elections, the Muslim League (N) has achieved significant success, winning 14 out of 18 seats, while the Pakistan Peoples Party has won four seats. The results are based on unofficial data released by the Election Commission.

According to the Election Commission, due to heavy rains, landslides and road closures, the election process could not be completed at several polling stations in Constituency LA-27 Muzaffarabad-I (Katla) and Constituency LA-28 Muzaffarabad-II (Lachharat), after which the polling there was postponed until Tuesday. Officials said that the election staff and polling equipment could not reach the affected areas in time.

Chief Election Commissioner Justice (retd) Ghulam Mustafa Mughal, while briefing the media in Muzaffarabad, said that according to unofficial results, the PML-N has won 14 seats while the PPP has won four. The final results will be announced after the Election Commission completes the process.

In the second phase, voting was held on the regional seats of the Muzaffarabad division and the seats reserved for Kashmir refugees. According to the Election Commission, the elections are being held in three phases in view of security arrangements, while polling will be held in the seats of the Poonch division in the last phase.

After the unofficial results were announced, the Prime Minister’s Adviser on Political Affairs Rana Sanaullah claimed that the PML-N had secured the simple majority required to form a government in Azad Kashmir. According to him, the results so far have shown that the party has reached 23 seats in the 45-member house, which is enough to form a government.

He said that the PML-N won four out of seven regional seats in the Muzaffarabad division and 10 out of 12 refugee seats, while the remaining seats went to the PPP. He said that in accordance with the public mandate, the new government will focus on the development of the region, the economy and solving public problems.

On the other hand, the Pakistan People’s Party has raised objections to the election process, alleging rigging, irregularities and violence in some places. Party leaders have also raised questions about the transparency of the election process, while the PML-N has rejected these allegations, calling them political. There has been no official response from the Election Commission to these allegations.

There were also reports of clashes between political workers in some areas of Muzaffarabad during the polling. In one incident, the PPP blamed the death of its worker on supporters of the opposing party, while the PML-N claimed that the man died of a heart attack after an altercation. These claims could not be independently verified.

PPP candidate and Legislative Assembly Speaker Chaudhry Latif Akbar also sent a written complaint to the Election Commission, demanding an investigation into the security situation, incidents of firing, interference in polling and an attack on his convoy. However, no official statement had been issued by the Election Commission on this complaint till the filing of this report.

Polling for the seats of refugees residing outside Azad Kashmir remained peaceful overall in various cities of the country; however, voter turnout was relatively low. Very limited voting was recorded at some polling stations, while absence of voters was also reported at a few places.

According to political observers, the unofficial results of the second phase have put the PML-N in a strong position to form a government; however, the final political picture will be fully clear only after the third phase of polling and the release of all official results by the Election Commission. The future action of the relevant institutions on the allegations and complaints raised during the election process is also being considered politically important.