MUZAFFARABAD: The Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Election Commission has announced that the region’s Legislative Assembly elections will be conducted in three phases, with polling beginning on July 27.
Chief Election Commissioner of AJK, Ghulam Mustafa Mughal, announced on Tuesday that voters in Mirpur Division would cast their ballots in the first phase on July 27, followed by Muzaffarabad Division on August 2 and Poonch Division on August 10.
The revised schedule replaces the earlier plan for a single-day election across all constituencies of the AJK Legislative Assembly. Previously, the commission had fixed July 27 as the polling date for all 45 constituencies, with voting scheduled from 8am to 5pm.
The election commission said all necessary arrangements for the phased polling process would be completed according to the announced timeline.
A total of 1,265 candidates have submitted nomination papers for the elections, covering 45 constituencies, including 33 general seats and 12 seats reserved for Kashmiri refugees.
Of the total candidates, 1,047 have filed nomination papers for constituencies within Azad Jammu and Kashmir, while 218 candidates are contesting refugee constituencies.
The scrutiny process for all 45 constituencies has been completed, with the election authorities rejecting 41 nomination papers on legal grounds.
The commission has planned 6,983 polling stations and 10,913 polling booths for more than 3.8 million registered voters. Around 3.36 million voters in AJK will vote through 5,926 polling stations, with women making up 48 per cent and men 52 per cent of the electorate.
Twenty-two political parties are taking part in the elections, while Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), has decided to boycott the polls.
The party had earlier planned to contest the elections through independent candidates after failing to obtain an election symbol.
Meanwhile, the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) have formed an electoral alliance. Under the arrangement, the PPP has allocated two constituencies — LA-14 (Bagh-I) and LA-23 (Poonch and Sudhanoti-VI) — to the JUI-F, while contesting the remaining 43 seats.
The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) has fielded candidates in 44 constituencies, while the Istehkam-e-Pakistan Party (IPP) is contesting 38 seats.
The Muslim Conference and Jamaat-e-Islami have each nominated candidates for 36 seats, the Pakistan National Party (PNP) for 14 seats, and the Jammu Kashmir Peoples Party (JKPP) for nine seats.
Election campaigns have intensified across the region, with political parties holding public gatherings, corner meetings and rallies.
PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari launched his party’s campaign in AJK after arriving in the region on July 14, while PML-N President Nawaz Sharif is scheduled to address rallies in Muzaffarabad on July 21 and Mirpur on July 24.
