Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif congratulated the PML-N’s leadership and successful candidates on Monday after unofficial results of the second phase of elections in Azad Jammu and Kashmir showed it had won 14 of 18 seats up for grabs the previous day.

The PML-N’s main rival in the contest and also its ally in the Centre, the PPP, has accused the PML-N of electoral malpractices, rigging and violence during Sunday polls, as it had during the first phase of the elections in Mirpur division on July 27. The PML-N secured nine of the 13 seats in the first phase while the PPP won the remaining four.

Elections in AJK are being held in three phases over security concerns, with polling having been held on seven seats of Muzaffarabad division and 12 refugee seats — the reserved seats for refugees from India-occupied Kashmir — on Sunday. In the third phase, elections will be held in 11 constituencies of Poonch division.

‘Results reflect people’s confidence in PML-N’s policies’

A statement released by the PM’s Office on Monday said the premier congratulated PML-N’s leadership and successful candidates after their win in the second phase.

“The continuity of this success is a result of the hard work of PML-N President Nawaz Sharif and the entire PML-N team,” the statement quoted PM Shehbaz as saying

According to the statement, the premier noted that Nawaz and the PML-N team had conducted a successful electoral campaign in AJK and the party’s success “reflects the confidence of the people of AJK in PML-N’s policies”.

He said the development and prosperity of AJK and the welfare of its people remained PML-N’s top priority.

PM Shehbaz added that political parties had actively participated in the second phase of the AJK elections, which he said would further strengthen the democratic process.

Results breakdown

Earlier, state broadcaster Radio Pakistan reported the unofficial results of Sunday’s elections, citing Chief Election Commissioner Justice (retd) Ghulam Mustafa Mughal’s press talk in Muzaffarabad.

During the press briefing, he announced that the PML-N had won 14 seats and the PPP four, the report said.

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Unofficial results

• LA-34 bagged by PML-N’s Nasir Dar
• LA-35 bagged by PML-N’s Chaudhry Muhammad Ismail
• LA-36 bagged by PML-N’s Muhammad Ahsan Raza
• LA-37 bagged by PNL-N’s Maryam Javed
• LA-38 bagged by PML-N’s Zeeshah Ali
• LA-39 bagged by PML-N’s Raja Muhammad Siddique Khan
• LA-41 bagged by PML-N’s Muhammad Amir Shah
• LA-42 bagged by PML-N’s Syed Shawkat Ali Shah
• LA-43 bagged by PML-N’s Muhammad Yasin Lone
• LA-44 bagged by PML-N’s Ahmad Raza Qadiri
• LA-25 bagged by PML-N’s Ghulam Qadir
• LA-30 bagged by PML-N’s Mustafa Bashir Abbasi
• LA-31 bagged by PML-N’s Saqib Majeed Khan
• LA-32 bagged by PML-N’s Raja Farooq Haider Khan
• LA-40 bagged by PPP’s Amir Abdul Ghaffar Khan
• LA-45 bagged by PPP’s Abdul Majid Khan
• LA-26 bagged by PPP’s Mian Abdul Waheed Khan
• LA-29 bagged by PPP’s Sardar Mukhtar Ahmad Khan

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Polling was postponed until Tuesday in LA-27 Muzaffarabad-I (Kutla) and at 71 of the 174 polling stations in LA-28 Muzaffarabad-II (Lachhrat) as polling staff and election material could not reach the constituency because of landslides and bad weather that resulted in blocked roads.

PML-N now has ‘simple majority’ to form govt: Rana Sana

As the unofficial results were released, Adviser to the Prime Minister on Political Affairs and PML-N leader Rana Sanaullah said his party had now gained the “simple majority” needed to form a government in AJK.

He was addressing a press conference alongside Minister for Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit-Baltistan Amir Muqam.

“We have the government-forming number,” he said, adding that “there are a total of 45 seats […] and out of 45, PML-N has so far secured 23 seats”.

The PML-N leader said his party had won in four of the seven territorial constituencies in Muzaffarabad while the PPP, which had been “attempting to build a rigging narrative since 10:30am yesterday”, had secured three.

Sanaullah demanded that the PPP must tell the people how they managed to secure three seats despite the alleged rigging.

“Did they succeed because of rigging or because of a free and fair election?”

Sanaullah further stated that the PML-N had also secured 10 out of 12 refugee seats while the PPP had won two.

“A democratic government, which has the people’s mandate, will now be formed in AJK, and it will work on ideological, economic, and political affairs of the region,” he said.

He added that a parliamentary party session of the PML-N would be called after the conclusion of the third phase of the elections for future decisions.

Speaking about PPP’s rigging allegations, the PML-N leader dismissed them and accused PPP of colluding with the proscribed Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC) to disrupt the election process in Muzaffarabad.

“Anticipating PML-N’s win, PPP along with the action committee planned riots and [..] fired at the police personnel when they got there,” Sanaullah alleged.

He claimed that the incident created an atmosphere of fear in the area, which led to a lower turnout.

“We received at least 3,000 to 4,000 fewer votes due to this,” he claimed.

On PPP’s allegations that an attempt had been made on its candidate AJK Legislative Assembly Speaker Chaudhry Latif Akbar’s life, he accused the party of staging a “drama”. He also claimed that the PPP had refused to get Akbar’s medicolegal examination done.

Sanaullah accused the PPP of employing “dirty tricks” to sabotage the electoral process, saying that the PPP’s actions violated the Charter of Democracy, in which the party leadership had agreed that they would not “malign each other’s mandate with such dirty tricks”.

Replying to a question, he said the PPP had raised doubts over “high turnout” in constituencies where the PML-N’s candidate had won.

“With the kind of societal system in place in AJK, it is certainly possible that if there are 300 people in a village, 290 might show up to vote,” he said.

He asked the PPP to follow due process in case of complaints rather than “building a narrative and disrupting democracy and the election process”.

Reports of violence

During the polling on Sunday, attempts were reportedly made to disrupt polling in some neighbourhoods of Muzaffarabad, but voting continued in most areas. In LA-31, Muzaffa­rabad-V (Khawra), clashes between workers of the PML-N and PPP were reported in Union Council Katkair.

The PPP alleged that one of its workers, Syed Mushtaq Shah, was killed in an attack by PML-N supporters. The PML-N rejected the allegation, claiming the man suffered a cardiac arrest following a scuffle between two groups. There was no independent confirmation of either claim.

PPP candidate and Legislative Assembly Speaker Akbar also wrote to the AJK chief election commissioner, alleging security lapses, firing incidents, interference in polling, prevention of polling agents from entering polling stations and denial of voting rights. He also claimed there had been an attempt on his life in which Advocate Syed Mumtaz Hussain Naqvi was injured, and called for an investigation and legal action against those responsible. There was no immediate response from the Election Commission.

Clashes between workers of the two major parties, some involving the use of firearms, were also reported from other areas, though no casualties were immediately reported.

Low turnout outside AJK

Outside AJK, Kashmiris voted for their candidates vying for refugee seats at polling stations set up in Chakwal, Jhelum, Rawalpindi, Islamabad, Sialkot, Narowal, Sargodha, Attock, Nawabshah, Hyderabad, Mohmand, Mansehra, Quetta, Dera Ghazi Khan, Peshawar, Sanghar, and Naushahro Feroze.

Polling in these areas largely remained peaceful and recorded a low turnout. In Mohmand, not a single voter turned up at a station set up for the AJK polls. In Dera Ghazi Khan, a single registered female voter cast her ballot at the Govt Elementary School in Maumori, where a polling station had been established just for her.

Out of 12 refugee seats, seven seats are in Punjab, one seat is in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, one seat (Jammu-VI) is divided between Pun­jab, Islamabad, and Khyber Pakhtun­khwa, one seat is divided between Sindh and Balo­chistan (Valley-I), and one seat (Jammu-I) is shared among refugees living in Balochistan, Punjab, and Sindh. Valley-V seat is divided between Punjab and Islamabad.

Since early June, AJK has witnessed protests by the now-proscribed Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC), which has been demanding the abolition of the 12 refugee seats in the AJK legislature. The protests have also been marred by violence.