Voting on remaining AJK Poonch division seats may be held by Aug 20-21, says CEC

MUZAFFARABAD: AJK Chief Election Commissioner Justice (retd) Ghulam Mustafa Mughal said on Saturday that, due to security concerns, the Election Commission had decided to first conduct polling in four constituencies of Bagh and Haveli.

He indicated that elections in the remaining seven constituencies of Poonch division could take place around Aug 20 or 21, with the election schedule likely to be announced within a week.

The four constituencies going to polls on Monday have 460,371 registered voters, including 238,664 men and 221,707 women. Polling will be held at 803 stations with 1,254 booths, where 82 candidates are contesting. The candidates include a serving prime minister, two former prime ministers, a serving minister, three former ministers and an AJK Council member.

Justice Mughal urged voters in Bagh and Haveli to exercise their right to vote and described voting as both a democratic right and a religious responsibility. He said security personnel had been deployed in the two districts and polling material was being transported under army supervision.

The CEC said successful candidates could technically take oath without any constitutional hurdle, but suggested that it would be more appropriate to wait until the entire House was complete after elections in Poonch and Sudhnoti. He said reserved-seat elections would then be held, followed by elections for the speaker, deputy speaker and leader of the House.

Regarding security, Mughal said eight personnel would be deployed at polling stations considered highly sensitive. He added that efforts would be made to restore internet services in Bagh and Haveli on Aug 9 and 10 to support the transmission and compilation of results.

Responding to rigging allegations, he said the commission would present the facts after the elections and determine whether any irregularities occurred and who was responsible.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister’s Adviser on Political Affairs Rana Sanaullah claimed that the PML-N would form the AJK government with a two-thirds majority.

He made the statement while addressing a rally in Bagh ahead of the third phase of polling, which was initially planned for all 11 constituencies of Poonch division but was scaled back to Bagh and Haveli due to law and order concerns.