Revised schedule announced for third phase of AJK elections

Muzaffarabad (Web Desk): The Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Election Commission on Friday amended the timetable for the third phase of the electoral process, putting off polling in Poonch and Sudhanoti districts.

The earlier plan had scheduled voting for August 10 on 11 seats spread across four districts of the Poonch division.

However, the AJK election commissioner announced that the third round will now be limited to Bagh and Haveli districts.

The first two stages of the elections have already taken place, with polling conducted in the Mirpur Division on July 27 and in the Muzaffarabad Division on August 2.

Meanwhile, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) is hopeful to form its government in AJK.

Prime Minister’s Adviser on Political Affairs Rana Sanaullah has claimed that the party has managed to secure enough seats to obtain a simple majority.

The second phase of the AJK elections was conducted in 21 constituencies, comprising nine seats from the Muzaffarabad Division and 12 constituencies allocated to Kashmiri refugees living in different parts of Pakistan.

As per the unofficial and unconfirmed results, the PML-N dominated the second phase by winning 15 of the 21 seats, whereas the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) managed to secure six constituencies.

The PML-N had also performed strongly in the first phase, taking nine seats compared with four won by the PPP, according to unofficial and provisional results.