Azad Jammu & Kashmir elections: War of words picking up pace

ISLAMABAD: The war of words has intensified between the ruling PTI and main opposition parties after the conclusion of the elections in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) in which the PTI got a simple majority.

AJK Prime Minister Raja Farooq Haider said while talking to a private news channel that the AJK polls were stolen through money laundering. He said a federal minister openly distributed money before the elections and no action was taken against him. He said the PTI did not follow the directions of the AJK Election Commission. He said the Election Commission ordered expulsion of a federal minister from AJK, but the prime minister brought him to public rally in open defiance. He said such practices are damaging for democracy.

Meanwhile, the PML-N leadership during a press conference said that the votes were stolen by distributing money, and it is unfortunate that the electoral process was in the hands of the state. They said it was being discussed to change the status of a state by bringing in a dummy prime minister and asked how a non-representative government would take the Kashmir cause forward. Former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, who was flanked by PML-N Secretary General Ahsan Iqbal and Farooq Haider, said that the political environment and traditions of Azad Kashmir were attacked and attempts were being made to bring people to power with money. “We reject this election and consider it a robbery on the rights of Kashmir,” he added.

He said that changing Kashmir's status into a province is a violation of resolutions of the United Nations. The PML-N leaders alleged that a global agenda was fulfilled in stealing the AJK elections. Ahsan Iqbal said the people’s mandate was stolen. He said this practice needs to come to an end now. Farooq Haider alleged that money was openly used in the elections. He alleged that it was an election based on money. He said the conscience of people was bought through the use of money.

Replying to opposition’s allegations, Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry said that the AJK prime minister belonged to PMLN, while the party had also appointed the election commissioner. “How can (they claim) rigging took place?” “The PML-N leaders were addressing a press conference while sitting in the AJK prime minister’s office; they should accept their humiliating defeat,” the minister said. He said the policies of Imran Khan have won in AJK elections. He said the opposition must go to court if it has evidence about rigging. He said the opposition always makes hue and cry about so-called rigging when it loses. He said it’s time to talk about election reforms. The minister said Imran Khan has ordered an immediate investigation into the death of two PTI workers during the July 25 elections and the arrest of the culprits at the earliest. He said the cabinet also prayed for the forgiveness of the four soldiers who were martyred while performing their duties during the elections — after a vehicle of the military’s Quick Reaction Force (QRF) fell into a ravine in Laswa near Neelum Valley.

The minister said the federal cabinet members congratulated PM Imran Khan over PTI’s victory in the Kashmir elections. The prime minister appreciated the efforts of federal ministers Ali Amin Gandapur and Murad Saeed as well as Chairman Kashmir Committee Shehryar Khan Afridi for running a successful election campaign in AJK. Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Farrukh Habib said the PMLN could not do anything for the people of AJK.

Talking to a private TV channel, he said the popularity graph of PMLN went down due to anti-Kashmir speeches. He said the AJK people extended their full support to the candidates of PTI during recent elections.

Farrukh Habib said Imran Khan raised the voice and pleaded the case of Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir’s (IIOJ&K) people at all the international fora.