MUZAFFARABAD: The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) won six of eight reserved seats in the Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Legislative Assembly on Monday, while the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) secured the remaining two women’s seats.
The reserved-seat elections complete another stage in the composition of the AJK Assembly following the recently concluded three-phase general elections.
The eight reserved seats comprise five for women, one for a technocrat, one for Ulema and Mashaikh, and one for an overseas Kashmiri representative.
The PML-N won three of the five reserved seats for women, while also securing the seats for technocrats, Ulema and Mashaikh, and overseas Kashmiris.
PML-N candidates Seharish Qamar, Maryam Zaman and Maryam Idrees won the three women’s reserved seats, while PPP candidates Farzana Yaqub and Zobia Khurshid secured the remaining two.
Zobia Khurshid and Rifat Abid both secured five votes in the women’s category, after which Khurshid won the seat through a draw.
PML-N candidate Pir Mazhar Saeed Shah won the reserved seat for Ulema and Mashaikh, while Barrister Iftikhar Gillani secured the technocrat seat.
Abdul Rehman Arain was declared successful on the reserved seat for overseas Kashmiris.
Following the results, the PML-N’s seats in the AJK Assembly rose to 31 seats, while the number of PPP lawmakers has reached 14.
The PML-N has 32 seats in total after an alliance with one member of the Jammu and Kashmir Awami Dast-o-Bazu (JK ADB).
Polling began at 10am at the AJK Legislative Assembly building in Muzaffarabad, with the secretary of the AJK Election Commission serving as the presiding officer.
Following the completion of the reserved-seat elections, the newly elected members took oath, after which elections and oath-taking for the assembly’s speaker and deputy speaker will take place.
The government formation process is being carried out without seven members, as elections in seven constituencies in Poonch and Sudhnoti districts have yet to be held.
General election results
The PML-N had emerged as the largest party in the three-phase general elections, winning 25 seats, while the PPP secured 11.
In the first phase, held across 13 constituencies in Mirpur Division, the PML-N won nine seats and the PPP four.
During the second phase, conducted on August 2 in eight constituencies of Muzaffarabad Division and all 12 refugee constituencies, the PML-N secured 15 seats while the PPP won six.
Results from two constituencies contested in the third phase added one seat each to the PML-N and PPP, taking their final tallies to 25 and 11 seats, respectively.
The elections were marred by allegations of rigging from the PPP, which questioned the conduct of the polling process.
Following the second phase of voting, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari criticised the federal government and signalled that his party would intensify its political opposition.
The PML-N rejected the allegations, while its President Nawaz Sharif urged political stakeholders to avoid turning political rivalries into enmity, expressing concern over the prevailing political atmosphere in the region.
