The second phase of the Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) elections concluded on Sunday, with voting held in eight of the nine constituencies in Muzaffarabad division and all 12 refugee constituencies across Pakistan.
Polling commenced at 8am. Voting for the refugee constituencies ended at the scheduled time of 5pm, while polling in Muzaffarabad continued until 6pm after election authorities granted a one-hour extension.
The electoral process in LA-27 (Muzaffarabad-I) was postponed because of heavy rainfall, AJK Chief Election Commissioner Ghulam Mustafa Mughal confirmed.
More than 300 candidates contested the elections for the Muzaffarabad division seats and the 12 refugee constituencies.
Meanwhile, the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) alleged widespread electoral irregularities at polling stations in at least 11 constituencies.
PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari reiterated his accusations of vote manipulation, claiming the ruling PML-N attempted to influence the outcome of the second phase of the elections.
In a statement posted on X, Bilawal condemned what he described as an attack on the party’s AJK president, Chaudhry Latif Akbar, who is contesting from LA-31 (Muzaffarabad-V).
He also alleged that PPP worker Mushtaq Shah was killed in the same constituency and blamed individuals affiliated with the PML-N for the violence.
Bilawal accused the PML-N of using intimidation, force and coercion to undermine the electoral process in Azad Kashmir, alleging that the party was attempting to suppress the public mandate.
He called for the immediate arrest of those responsible for the attack on Chaudhry Latif Akbar as well as those involved in the killing of the PPP worker.
In a separate statement, Bilawal said the PML-N had “crossed all limits”, alleging attacks on PPP supporters and even targeting the president of Azad Kashmir. He maintained that the contest in Muzaffarabad had become a battle between the PPP’s politics of principles and what he described as the PML-N’s tactics of threats, coercion and electoral manipulation.
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