ISLAMABAD: Amid mounting tensions between the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) over the ongoing Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) elections, senior leaders of the two coalition partners met in Muzaffarabad on Thursday in an effort to contain the political fallout from allegations of electoral rigging.
The meeting followed days of increasingly bitter exchanges between the two parties after the Mirpur polls, with the PPP alleging large-scale irregularities and questioning the credibility of the electoral process.
Sources said that the initiative was aimed at preventing the dispute from spilling over to the working relationship of the two parties in the federal coalition government.
It was learnt that the meeting was arranged following consultations at the federal level. Although a source claimed that the initiative had the concurrence of both the Presidency and the Prime Minister’s Office, The News could not independently verify that claim.
PPP leaders, including Qamar Zaman Kaira, Nadeem Afzal Chan, AJK Prime Minister Faisal Rathore and Nayyar Bukhari, met Rana Sanaullah and Amir Muqam from the PML-N.
According to sources privy to the discussions, leaders from both sides candidly exchanged complaints over statements made during the election campaign and after the announcement of Mirpur results.
The PML-N leadership asked the PPP to produce evidence supporting its allegation of systematic electoral rigging. In response, PPP leaders maintained that their objections were specific to four constituencies — LA-5, LA-9, LA-11 and LA-12 — where they believed serious irregularities had taken place.
The PML-N side argued that by restricting its complaints to four constituencies, the PPP had effectively accepted the results on the remaining nine seats, where the PML-N won five and the PPP secured four.
The sources said both sides agreed that the current political confrontation should not be allowed to escalate further or cast a shadow over the remaining phases of AJK elections.
The meeting also produced an understanding on election-day security in the remaining constituencies, particularly in Muzaffarabad. According to sources, both parties agreed that no individual should be allowed to carry firearms in or around polling stations, with the objective of ensuring peaceful, orderly and credible polling.
The meeting is being seen as the first serious attempt by the two coalition partners to contain a dispute that had threatened to deepen political tensions despite their partnership in the federal government.
