PPP says PTI, PML-N using official machinery in AJK polls

ISLAMABAD: The PPP while demanding free and fair elections in Azad Kashmir has questioned the role of Election Commission of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, saying that many refugee voters have been removed from the electoral list.

The PPP has also accused Prime Minister Azad Jammu and Kashmir Raja Farooq Haider Khan, who is associated with PMLN, and federal government for using the administration in election campaign.

“The PTI government is using Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa resources for votes, and the ECP should take notice of this,” said the PPP Secretary General Syed Nayyar Hussain Bokhari while addressing a press conference along with the PPP Information Secretary Faisal Karim Kundi and Sardar Salim here on Monday.

Nayyer Bukhari demanded free and fair elections in Azad Jammu and Kashmir, and said the election schedule is released first and the voter lists came later. He alleged that pressure is being used to vote for the PTI candidates. “We demand the Election Commission to play its role under the Constitution,” he said.

The PPP leader said there are moves to rig the elections. He said voters’ names have been struck off the voter lists and refugee voters are pressurised to vote for the PTI. He said the AJK prime minister is trying to rig the elections by using administration. “Development funds and employments are being distributed in Azad Kashmir,” he said. He said the Constitution does not allow a refugee to contest on seats for refugees.

According to the Constitution, he said, free and fair election is the responsibility of the Azad Kashmir Election Commission. Sardar Salim said that the PPP has fought for free and transparent elections in Pakistan and Azad Kashmir.