ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader and Adviser to Prime Minister on Political Affairs Rana Sanaullah has claimed that his party has secured enough seats to form a two-thirds majority government in Azad Jammu and Kashmir following the completion of three phases of elections.
Addressing a press conference in Islamabad, Sanaullah said the PML-N had won 25 seats in the 53-member AJK Legislative Assembly and would secure a two-thirds majority after the reserved-seat elections.
He said the election results reflected a clear public mandate for the PML-N to address governance and development challenges in the region.
The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), a coalition partner of the PML-N at the federal level, secured 11 seats but has raised allegations of irregularities in the AJK polls. Sindh Senior Minister Sharjeel Memon had described the elections as “Form 47 Plus.”
Sanaullah said polling could not be conducted on six seats due to law-and-order concerns. He also welcomed Awami Dast-o-Baazo Party candidate Sajid Iqbal, who won from LA-14 Bagh-I, into the PML-N camp, saying his inclusion would contribute to the development of AJK.
Commenting on the ongoing political situation in the region, Sanaullah said those participating in the sit-in were “our brothers” but claimed that a small portion of the protesters could be attempting to create unrest.
He stressed that Kashmiris were equal stakeholders in Pakistan and said maintaining law and order would remain the PML-N government’s foremost priority. At the same time, he acknowledged peaceful protest as a fundamental right of citizens.
Sanaullah further alleged that the proscribed Jammu Kashmir Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC) had sought to delay the AJK elections, warning that postponing the polls could have further aggravated the situation.
The AJK government had declared JAAC a proscribed organisation on June 5 under the Anti-Terrorism Act, alleging its involvement in terrorist activities. The action came ahead of a planned June 9 protest over demands including the removal of 12 Assembly seats reserved for refugees from Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir who migrated to Pakistan after 1947.
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