Wins 5 of first seven seats declared, PPP wins 2, rigging allegations spoiling polls in Mirpur Division
SUFFRAGETTE: A woman casts her vote at a polling station during the first phase of elections in Mirpur. PHOTO: AFP
MIRPUR:
The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) on Monday took an early lead in the first phase of elections in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), winning five of the first seven declared seats after voting concluded in 13 constituencies in Mirpur division, where voting was marred by melee and allegations of fraud.
The process of receiving unofficial and preliminary results was ongoing until the filing of this report.
According to the complete, unofficial results from seven of the 13 constituencies, the PML-N has won five seats, while the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) has secured two.
According to details, PML-N candidates won in LA-1 Mirpur, LA-4 Mirpur, LA-7 Bhimber-3 and LA-9 Kotli-2 while PPP candidates won LA-2 Mirpur and LA-3 Mirpur.
Voters cast their vote in all 13 constituencies across the three districts of Mirpur division – Mirpur, Kotli and Bhimber. Voting began at 8.00 and continued until 18.00. Special security measures were put in place to ensure the maintenance of law and order throughout the voting process.
The election will be held in three phases as per a revised schedule announced by AJK Chief Election Commissioner Ghulam Mustafa Mughal on July 21.
The first phase covers all 13 constituencies of Mirpur Division, while polling in Muzaffarabad Division and the 12 refugee constituencies will be held on August 2, followed by Poonch (Rawalakot) Division on August 10.
Voting began at 8:00 AM with the Police, Pakistan Army, Rangers and other law enforcement personnel deployed at the polling stations to ensure a peaceful election process. More than 1.4 million registered voters are eligible to vote across Mirpur Division’s 13 constituencies, comprising four seats in Mirpur district, three in Bhimber and six in Kotli.
The Election Commission has established 2,454 polling stations and 3,701 polling stations, while around 22,000 election officials have been deployed to conduct the voting process.
The authorities have declared 1,965 polling stations as sensitive or very sensitive. To maintain law and order, more than 19,000 security personnel have been deployed across the division, including 17,000 policemen, while 2,100 army troops remain on standby as a backup force.
A total of 288 candidates ran in Monday’s election. According to the Election Commission, voting was to take place at 2,316 polling stations, of which 1,241 were declared “highly sensitive” and 724 “sensitive”.
The election monitoring was organized through 13 zones and 205 sectors across the division, while 18,560 personnel of the police and other law enforcement agencies were deployed under a three-tier security plan.
During the event, police provided the first layer of security, Pakistan Rangers (Punjab), Pakistan Rangers (Sindh) and Federal Constabulary the second, and the Pakistan Army the third. Around 2,100 army personnel were also to be deployed while Quick Response Force (QRF) teams were to remain on standby to respond to any emergency.
While minor skirmishes and fights between PPP and PML-N workers in Kotli district were reported earlier in the day, the election process took a violent turn in the afternoon in LA-9 Kotli-II (Nakyal).
In a statement on X, the PPP claimed that party worker Mukhtar Younus “died during incidents of show of arms and public harassment by PML-N candidate Sardar Umair Naeem”.
Mirpur Commissioner Raja Tahir Mumtaz confirmed that one man was killed and two others, including the deceased’s father, were injured in an incident.
On the other hand, the PML-N claimed that Younus had been involved in its election campaign activities.
OPP chairman
Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari condemned the killing of party worker Mukhtar Younus and said he had been informed that the worker was shot by supporters of PML-N candidate Sardar Umair Naeem.
“My worker has been martyred in Mirpur Nakyal. Where are the authorities? What is the Election Commission doing?” he said.
He said a video had surfaced two days earlier showing the candidate and his associates allegedly brandishing weapons and shooting in the air, adding that “if the authorities had taken note of that, today we would not have had to pay the price of a human life.”
He said Younus had been actively campaigning for PPP candidate Javed Budhanvi and alleged that the party’s opponents had resorted to such tactics fearing defeat.
PPP Parliamentarians Central Information Secretary Shazia Marri also condemned the killing, expressed condolences to Younus’ family and called for the immediate arrest of those responsible. She said attempts to sabotage peaceful elections through violence were unacceptable, adding that attacks on political workers and voters would not weaken the PPP’s resolve.
FIR
Ahead of the poll, the PML-N alleged the pre-poll rigging in Kotli’s LA-10 constituency. Rana Sanaullah, who is also the prime minister’s adviser on political affairs, claimed that PPP president in AJK Chaudhry Yasin was involved in election fraud and that presiding officers involved in the act had been apprehended.
Sanaullah said the election results in the constituency would not be acceptable to his party until this “investigation” is completed.
While there was no official statement from the AJK government explicitly referring to the incident, a statement from the Election Commission said two presiding officers in Kotli had been arrested after it was reported that instead of reaching the relevant polling stations, they had gone to “a residence”.
The Election Commission said “both presiding officers” were arrested and suspended from their duties and legal action was initiated against them under the law.
A statement from the Press Information Department said two new presiding officers had been installed in their place at the relevant polling stations, after confiscating the voting materials supplied to the apprehended officials.
But a first information report (FIR) filed about the incident named three presiding officers.
The FIR was registered at City Police Station Kotli on Sunday evening under the provisions of the Municipal Elections Act and the Penal Code.
