Prime Minister Imran Khan‘s Pakistani Tehreek-e-Insaf party is set to form the next government in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), as it became the largest political party in the region’s marred legislative elections allegations of irregularities and violence, local media reported, citing unofficial results.
Imran Khan’s party Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) won 23 seats while the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) was second with eight seats and incumbent Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) took just six seats, according to state radio. Pakistan reported.
The Muslim Conference (MC) and the People’s Party of Jammu and Kashmir (JKPP) won one seat each.
However, Geo TV reported that Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) won 25 seats, followed by PPP with nine and PML-N six. One seat each was won by the Muslim Conference and the Jammu and Kashmir People’s Party.
Thus, the PTI obtained a simple majority to form the government without the support of any other party. It is for the first time that he will form a government in the PoK.
Traditionally, the ruling party in the country wins elections in Pok
The assembly has a total of 53 members but only 45 are directly elected, while five seats are reserved for women and three for technocrats.
The 45 directly elected members included 33 residents of PoK and 12 refugees who have come over the years from Kashmir and settled in various cities in Pakistan.
India has previously criticized Pakistan for its decision to hold elections in Gilgit-Baltistan and said any action to change the status of the militarily occupied region has no legal basis.
Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) lawyer Sultan Mahmood Chaudhry, who is the favorite candidate for the region’s “Prime Minister”, won his seat. Former “Prime Minister” and PML-N leader Raja Farooq Haider retained his seat. Another ex-prime minister and head of the Muslim Conference, Sardar Attica Ahmed Khan, also won.
A total of 587 candidates stood for election in 33 constituencies in various districts of the PoK and 121 candidates in 12 constituencies of refugees from Jammu and Kashmir settled in Pakistan.
Pakistani opposition parties, the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), accused Khan’s party of “rigging” Sunday’s elections.
“There is evidence of systematic rigging in elections,” said PPP vice-chair Senator Sherry Rehman.
She said PTI employees attacked the PPP employee during polling time, after police uprooted a camp belonging to her party. “There is a clear difference between the electoral lists of several polling stations,” she said.
PML-N spokeswoman Marriyum Aurangzeb said in a statement that in order to rig the elections, PTI “henchmen” attacked her party workers in the Alipur Chatha area of Gujranwala.
“The Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) was allowed to engage in hooliganism in full freedom,” she said.
However, the region’s electoral commission dismissed the allegations and said the polls were conducted in a fair and peaceful manner.
The chief electoral commission, Abdul Rashid Sulehria, told the media that he was satisfied with the electoral process.
At least two PTI employees were shot dead in clashes with PPP activists at a polling station in Charhoi neighborhood in Kotli district on Sunday. The two men were shot dead by unidentified people, police said.
In addition, at least four soldiers were killed while three soldiers and a civilian driver were injured when their vehicle plunged into a ravine off a winding mountain road in the Laswa region, the army said on Sunday. in a press release.
The soldiers were among the army troops deployed to help keep the peace during the elections.
In another incident, five police officers were injured after Jamaat-e-Islami activists attacked them with batons at the Dhal Chakhya polling station in the Jhelum Valley district.
PML-N candidate Choudhary Muhammad Ismail Gujjar sparked a storm by threatening Sunday that he would “ask India for help” if the local administration did not address his concerns after election officials his party was kicked out of a polling station, according to Geo News. reported.
After leaving the polling station, the officers argued with the deputy commissioner, after which the voting process was interrupted there.
However, he later clarified in the media that his statement was directed against the administration.
The secretary of the region’s electoral commission, Muhammad Ghazanfar Khan, said the elections were conducted in a free, fair and transparent manner.
He said he was satisfied with the law and order and appreciated the performance of the Pakistani police and army in ensuring the peaceful conduct of the elections, in which 32 lakh people could vote to elect 45 members of the assembly for a term of five years.
The last general elections for the PoK Legislative Assembly were held in July 2016 and were won by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz led by former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.
In that election, the Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) nominated candidates for all 45 constituencies, while the PML-N and PPP each distributed tickets to candidates for 44 seats. Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP), the radical Islamist party banned in April by the Pakistani government for its violent activities, contested 40 seats. The TLP was not deregistered by the Pakistan Election Commission even after the ban, which allowed it to participate in the elections.
Besides ticket holders from different political parties, a total of 261 independent candidates were also vying for the 33 constituencies of the PoK, while 56 independents contested the 12 refugee seats.
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