Muzaffarabad – The second phase of the Azad Kashmir (AJK) elections started with Sunday morning from nine voters’ polls in the Muzaffarabad division and 12 refugee seats, which are located in different provinces. The polling began at 8 in the morning and will be held continuously till 5 in the afternoon, with more than 300 contestants bidding for 21 seats.
The election is taking place in three stages, owing to security measures, which has led to rising political tension between the ruling federal coalition partners Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N). The conflict turned violent after the first round of voting in the Mirpur division on July 27, when both sides had alleged electoral malpractices. Leaders on both sides had talks to resolve issues in clashing constituencies like Charhoi and Nakyal over the weekend.
On the other hand, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif met at Jati Umra to discuss the political landscape in general and the inter-party dynamics. PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari was disappointed with the Election Commission’s reply to complaints received from the first phase and had outlined the party’s right to raise its objections and demand re-polling if procedural matters were found.
The PPP made additional complaints on Sunday, alleging late polling station staffing in some areas of LA-27, LA-28 and LA-30, problems with polling agents in LA-34 and delays for transporting the voters in LA-31.
According to data collated by the AJK Election Commission, more than 800,000 people were registered to vote in the Muzaffarabad division, which has 1,483 polling stations. Total registered voters in the 12 refugee constituencies spread across Punjab, Sindh, KP, Balochistan and Islamabad are an additional 438,000. The organisation has taken up strict security measures at all the places, while 533 polling stations out of the total in the Muzaffarabad region have been categorised as very sensitive.
