BAGH: Polling began on Monday in the third phase of the Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) general elections, with voters casting ballots in four constituencies across Bagh and Haveli districts of Poonch Division.
Voting started at 8 am and will continue until 5 pm. The Election Commission has designated most of the 803 polling stations in the four constituencies as sensitive or highly sensitive.
Authorities have deployed additional security personnel to ensure the peaceful conduct of polling and provide voters with a secure environment.
AJK Election Commission Secretary Raja Mohammad Shakeel said an additional 10,300 troops had been deployed alongside the regular police forces of Bagh and Haveli districts to maintain law and order.
The third phase is being held against the backdrop of tensions between the miscreants of the banned Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC) and the authorities in different parts of AJK.
Elections in the Mirpur and Muzaffarabad divisions were held on July 27 and August 2, respectively.
The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) has emerged as the leading party with 24 seats, while the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) has secured 10 seats in the elections held so far.
The third phase was initially scheduled to cover all 11 constituencies of Poonch Division. However, the Election Commission later decided to hold polling only in Bagh and Haveli because of concerns over the security situation.
The remaining seven constituencies – five in Poonch district and two in Sudhnoti district – are expected to go to the polls by August 20 or 21, according to the AJK election authorities.
Key contests
Monday’s polling has assumed particular significance as AJK Prime Minister Faisal Mumtaz Rathore and former premiers Sardar Tanveer Ilyas and Sardar Attique Ahmed Khan seek to retain or regain their political positions.
A total of 460,371 voters, including 238,664 men and 221,707 women, are eligible to vote at 803 polling stations comprising 1,254 polling booths.
As many as 82 candidates are contesting the four seats. LA-14 (Dhirkot) has attracted the largest field with 30 candidates, while LA-17 (Haveli) has nine candidates.
In LA-17 (Haveli), Prime Minister Rathore is contesting against PML-N candidate Engr Mohsin Aziz and independent candidate Khawaja Tariq Saeed, a member of the AJK Council.
Rathore and Saeed were previously political allies and had reportedly agreed to contest the constituency alternately. However, after becoming prime minister, Rathore sought Saeed’s withdrawal in his favour. Saeed declined, resulting in the former allies becoming electoral rivals.
Aziz is also considered a strong contender, drawing support from the sizeable Gujjar community. His father, Chaudhry Mohammad Aziz, had won the constituency on several occasions. A recent major election rally organised by Aziz in Forward Kahuta was seen as a sign of growing support for his campaign.
Saeed is believed to have backing among a significant section of the Kashmiri community and several smaller clans. Rathore, meanwhile, has expressed confidence in retaining the seat, pointing to the performance of his government during his relatively short tenure.
Former premier Ilyas — another major contest
In LA-15 (Wasti Bagh), former AJK prime minister Sardar Tanveer Ilyas is facing a multi-cornered contest against PML-N candidate and former minister Mushtaq Ahmed Minhas, PPP nominee and sitting minister Sardar Ziaul Qamar, and Jamaat-i-Islami candidate retired Brig Dr Mohammad Khan.
Ilyas had initially announced a boycott of the third phase after receiving just over 3,300 votes from Upper Neelum in the second phase. He later withdrew the boycott and resumed his election campaign.
Ilyas and Qamar belong to the same Madiyal tribe, while Brig Khan belongs to the Narma clan and is reported to have the support of former Jamaat-i-Islami chief Abdul Rashid Turabi and former adviser Raja Yasin Khan.
Minhas is seeking to benefit from the PML-N’s strong electoral position, with the party currently the largest in the AJK elections and expected to form the next government.
His campaign has urged voters to elect a representative from the party likely to occupy the government benches rather than send their constituency’s representative into opposition.
READ ALSO: Azad Kashmir Election Commission Revises Schedule for Third Phase of Legislative Assembly Elections
PML-N, PPP face off in Sharqi Bagh
In LA-16 (Sharqi Bagh), the main contest is between former ministers Sardar Mir Akbar of the PML-N and Sardar Qamar Zaman of the PPP.
The two candidates are seeking to capitalise on their respective parties’ support bases as voters decide the outcome of another closely watched constituency.
The LA-14 (Dhirkot) contest has attracted considerable attention because of the electoral challenge facing Sardar Attique Ahmed Khan, head of the Muslim Conference (MC), a party that once dominated AJK politics.
Attique is facing a strong challenge from Sajid Iqbal Abbasi of the Awam Dast-o-Bazu Party. Abbasi, a contractor and philanthropist, has reportedly invested substantial personal resources in welfare and development projects in the constituency, helping him establish a significant local following.
Attique has represented Dhirkot continuously since 2006, when he first became AJK prime minister. His contest with Abbasi has gained further significance because both candidates belong to the same tribe.
Among the other candidates are PML-N nominee Raja Faisal Azad and PPP candidate Raja Mubashar Ejaz. While Attique and Abbasi are viewed as the principal contenders, the PML-N and PPP candidates are also expected to compete strongly for the remaining positions.
The outcome of Monday’s polling is likely to have a significant bearing on the final political balance in AJK, particularly as the PML-N seeks to consolidate its lead and major political figures fight to retain their constituencies.
Significance of the first two phases
The first two phases of the AJK elections have given the PML-N a clear early advantage and significantly strengthened its prospects of forming the next government.
In the first phase, held in Mirpur Division on July 27, the PML-N won nine of the 13 seats, while the PPP secured four. The result was particularly significant as Mirpur Division had been regarded as a major battleground between the two parties, with the PML-N securing victories across Mirpur, Bhimber and several constituencies in Kotli.
The PML-N consolidated its lead in the second phase, held on August 2 in the Muzaffarabad Division and across the 12 refugee constituencies. After polling in two constituencies was completed later due to landslides and adverse weather, the party’s tally rose to 24 seats, compared with 10 for the PPP.
The PML-N secured 15 additional seats during the second phase, while the PPP added six, giving the former a substantial advantage ahead of the final phase in Poonch Division. PML-N leaders subsequently claimed that the party had secured the numbers required to form a government in the 45-member Legislative Assembly.
The results of the first two phases have provided a clear indication of voters’ political preferences in Mirpur and Muzaffarabad divisions and given the PML-N considerable momentum as the electoral process enters its final stage.
The outcome has also strengthened the party’s position in the race to form the next AJK government, although the remaining contests will determine the final composition of the Legislative Assembly and the overall balance of political forces.
At the same time, the phased elections have enabled voters across AJK to participate in choosing their representatives and shaping the political direction of the territory.
The final phase is therefore being closely watched, as its results will complete the electoral process and provide a clearer picture of the mandate and political landscape of the next AJK government.
