Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif reacts to the AJK election result in a televised speech on Tuesday. SCREEN GRAB
Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz on Tuesday hailed Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s victory in the first phase of the Azad Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly elections and criticized the Pakistan Peoples Party for alleging fraud, urging it to accept the result instead of blaming its party.
The PML-N emerged as the dominant party in the first phase of the legislative assembly elections in AJK, securing nine of the 13 seats contested in Mirpur Division, according to unofficial and unconfirmed results, while the PPP won the remaining four seats.
Reacting to the results in a televised address, the Punjab chief minister said the PPP’s response was disappointing, adding that instead of accepting its defeat in the spirit of democracy, the party had resorted to issuing statements and expressing anger.
Read: PML-N secures strong lead in AJK polls, wins 9 out of 13 seats in Mirpur as unofficial results pour in
“Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has just issued a statement saying that the state has decided that PML-N will win. Bilawal sahab, I want to explain to you that it is not the state that decides elections; it is the people who decide elections,” she said.
The chief minister also referred to the Gilgit-Baltistan elections in which the PPP secured a majority of seats and said that the PML-N had accepted these results and supported the formation of the PPP government.
“In Gilgit-Baltistan, the people decided in your favor. The PML-N wholeheartedly and happily acknowledged your victory. The prime minister congratulated you and supported you in forming the government,” the chief minister said, adding that when the PPP won the Gilgit-Baltistan elections, there were no allegations of foul play. election, it accused the opinion polls of being rigged.
Referring to the PPP’s election rallies, she said they were all empty, though that was not necessarily a symbol of success, adding that the party should have worked on its narrative and performance.
“You had no narrative, no program for the people of AJK, no reform agenda for AJK, no performance to show and no record of governance,” she added.
Referring to the PPP government which has ruled Sindh for more than 17 years, she said the continuity PPP had enjoyed in the province had not been available to any other party in any other province, but despite that, the party did not have a single project in Sindh to highlight.
