Islamabad, Jul 28 (PTI): The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) won nine out of 13 seats in the first phase of elections held in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, the Election Commission said on Tuesday.
There were allegations of massive rigging in the first phase of the polls held on Monday, in which the Pakistan’s People Party (PPP) won the remaining seats. The elections for 45 contesting seats in the so-called legislative assembly in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) are happening in three phases between July 27 and August 10 amid widespread violence.
India maintains that the entire Union Territories of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh are integral and inalienable parts of it. New Delhi also asserts that Pakistan has been in “illegal and forcible occupation” of parts of these Union Territories.
On Tuesday, India described the ongoing elections in PoK as an attempt by Islamabad to camouflage its illegal occupation and hide its “grave” human rights violations in the region. “The current cosmetic electoral exercise is nothing but an attempt by Pakistan to camouflage its illegal occupation and hide its grave human rights violations in the region,” External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said in New Delhi.
According to preliminary results issued by the PoK Election Commission on Tuesday, the PML-N led by the Sharif brothers – Nawaz and Shehbaz – emerged as the winner in nine constituencies while the PPP led by the Bhuttos secured four seats.
Both parties are coalition partners in the federal government. It is a direct contest between the two in PoK because former prime minister Imran Khan’s party Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf has boycotted the polls.
There are 53 seats in the so-called PoK legislative assembly – 45 are directly elected, while eight are reserved for women, technocrats and clerics.
Alleging rigging in seven seats, PPP senior leader Nayyar Bokhari said: “Our winning seats have been gifted to the PML-N.”
Other senior PPP leaders have demanded the Election Commission not to announce results till investigation of rigging in certain constituencies is not completed.
Rana Sanaullah, adviser to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, has dismissed rigging allegations saying elections were largely held in a “peaceful and fair” manner, and violence was reported in one constituency.
A PPP worker was killed and two were injured in a violent clash on the polling day, allegedly triggered by an incident of firing by the PML-N leader.
Also, the Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC), a group that has been banned by the so-called government in PoK, said on Tuesday that at least 14 its activists were killed and more than two dozen injured in clashes with law-enforcement personnel during the first phase of elections.
Law enforcement authorities in the region have, however, disputed the death toll and accused JAAC protesters of opening fire on security personnel.
The ongoing elections are taking place after nearly two months of violence in the region, in which several were killed. It was triggered by protests spearheaded by the JAAC, demanding the abolition of 12 contentious refugee seats, leading to a crackdown by security forces.
India on July 14 had described the protests in Pok as a “direct consequence” of Islamabad’s decades-long “systemic exploitation and administrative oppression” in areas under its “forcible” occupation and criticised the police brutality on the protesters.
