MUZAFFARABAD: Newly elected members of the Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Legislative Assembly took the oath of office on Monday, marking the formal start of the new assembly. Outgoing Speaker Chaudhry Latif Akbar administered the oath to the newly elected members.
Assembly Secretary Amjed Latif Abbasi read out the notifications of the 38 members elected from the territorial and refugee constituencies in the elections, as well as those of the eight members elected on reserved seats.
Shortly after the announcement of the results, all newly elected members took the oath. The members then signed the oath register in the order of their constituencies.
PML-N wins 5, PPP wins 2 reserved seats
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) bagged five while the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) won two of the seven reserved seats in the Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Legislative Assembly on Monday.
Under Article 22(1) of the Azad Jammu and Kashmir Constitution, the Legislative Assembly consists of 53 members, including 45 members elected directly through adult franchise and eight members chosen by directly elected representatives.
The reserved seats include five seats for women and one each for Ulema-i-Din or Mashaikh well-versed in the teachings of Islam, Jammu and Kashmir State subjects residing abroad, and technocrats and other professionals.
PML-N’s Chaudhry Abdul Rehman Arain was the only candidate to have submitted his nomination papers for the seat reserved for state subjects residing abroad. He was consequently declared elected unopposed.
After polling for the remaining seats on Monday, PML-N’s Sehrish Qamar, Maryam Idrees and Maryam Zaman secured one seat each reserved for women. Seven votes were polled for each of them, as were for PPP’s Farzana Yaqoob, who claimed the fourth reserved seat for women.
There were just two more contenders — PML-N’s Riffat Abid and PPP’s Zobia Khurshid Raja — vying for the seats for women whose votes were tied at five. Eventually, Raja was declared the winner for the last seat left, with the result being decided by drawing lots.
For the seat reserved for Ulema and Mashaikh, PML-N’s Mohammad Mazhar Saeed won against his sole contender, PPP’s Hafiz Tariq Mahmood, after garnering 26 votes — almost double than Mahmood’s 12.
Similarly, PML-N’s Barrister Syed Iftikhar Gillani also bagged 26 votes to claim the seat reserved for technocrats and professionals, beating PPP’s Sahibzada Zulfiqar Ali by 14 votes.
Shortly after their election, the Election Commission notified the successful candidates.
Also Read: PML-N Claims Clinching Two-Thirds Majority in Azad Kashmir Polls
In days preceding Monday’s polls, elections to seven of the 45 directly elected seats — five in Poonch district and two in Sudhnoti district — could not be held due to the law and order situation in the region. As a result, the 38 members elected so far, representing 84.4 per cent of the directly elected membership, participated in the reserved seat elections.
Azad Jammu and Kashmir elections
The elections in Azad Jammu and Kashmir were divided into phases. The first phase was held on July 27, the second on August 2 and the third on August 10.
The third phase was originally meant to cover all of Poonch Division, which comprises 11 constituencies, including three in Bagh, one in Haveli, five in Poonch district and two in Sudhnoti district.
However, the AJK Election Commission announced that polling would only go ahead as scheduled in Bagh and Haveli because of concerns over the law and order situation.
So far, in the direct elections to 38 constituencies, the PML-N has secured 25 seats while the PPP won 12. The lone MLA-elect of the Awami Dast-o-Bazu party has also joined hands with the PML-N.
