• Polling only in Bagh and Haveli districts on Aug 10
• Bilawal portrays phased elections as ‘tactic’ to facilitate rigging
• PPP chief claims faction within ruling PML-N working to undermine Shehbaz regime; says real contest between ‘Lahore & Islamabad’
MUZAFFARABAD: The Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Election Commission on Friday revised the schedule for the third phase of elections in the region, announcing that polling on Aug 10 would now be held only in Bagh and Haveli districts of Poonch Division due to concerns over the law and order situation.
Elections are being held across AJK in three phases amid tensions between protesters and the authorities. Polling in Mirpur and Muzaffarabad divisions was held on July 27 and Aug 2, respectively.
The third phase, covering Poonch Division, was originally scheduled for Aug 10. The division comprises 11 constituencies, including three in Bagh, one in Haveli, five in Poonch district and two in Sudhnoti district.
However, in a press release, the Election Commission said polling would go ahead as scheduled on Aug 10 only in Bagh and Haveli.
The electoral process in the five constituencies of Poonch district and the Pallandri constituency in Sudhnoti district will not be held on Aug 10, it said.
According to the commission, a report submitted by the AJK home secretary highlighted “concerns over the law and order situation in some areas of Poonch district and Pallandri district”.
The commission said it had also received requests from political leaders and election candidates from the affected districts seeking postponement of polling in view of the prevailing situation.
The electoral watchdog said it would announce fresh polling dates and a revised election schedule for Poonch district and Pallandri after reviewing the situation and taking all relevant factors into account.
The decision follows clashes between protesters and law enforcement personnel in Rawalakot on July 27, which reportedly resulted in several casualties.
‘Rigging tactic’
Later in the day, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, while addressing an election rally in Bagh, alleged that the elections had been held in phases to facilitate rigging.
He noted that elections in AJK had never before been held in phases.
The PPP chairman said the authorities had argued that conducting the polls in phases would ensure peaceful elections, but he questioned the claim, asking: “In which phase were the elections free, fair or peaceful?”
“In truth, elections were held in phases so they could rig them. They knew that 10 seats were in their pocket from the start,” he alleged.
“With those 10 seats in their pocket, they robbed Mirpur, they robbed Muzaffarabad, and now they are looking at you in Poonch. They are looking at Bagh. On Aug 10, they will find out that the people of Poonch and Bagh hunt tigers,” he said.
‘Islamabad govt’
The PPP chairman said that while the PML-N was prematurely celebrating its victory in AJK, “the government in Islamabad is in danger” and “the countdown has already begun”. He claimed that the real political contest was “not between PML-N and PPP” but “between Islamabad and Lahore”, alleging that a faction within the ruling party was working to undermine Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
“High-profile people are saying that the government has collapsed. I’m not saying that, nor am I casting doubt on the prime minister’s intentions.
He’s a good man with good intentions. But what can he do when the people around him have bad intentions?” he asked.
Referring to his recent remarks, he said the PPP had not started the “countdown” to government’s collapse.
“The PML-N’s fight is not with the PPP — that happens in elections as it has before. The real fight is entirely different because the prime minister, despite his good intentions, is being undermined by a large section of the PML-N,” he alleged. “A large section of the PML-N wants the prime minister to fight not only the opposition but also his own allies,” he added.
Turning to the situation in AJK, the PPP chairman said the region was passing through one of the most difficult periods in its history, with Poonch Division bearing the brunt of the crisis. He claimed that nowhere else in Pakistan had roads and internet services remained suspended for such a prolonged period and reiterated the PPP’s demand that the issues be resolved either through dialogue or by establishing a Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
He said the situation had deteriorated to the point where lives were being lost, adding that the AJK Assembly had passed a resolution calling for a Truth and Reconciliation Commission and urging both protesters and security forces to cease their activities.
“They are neither willing to establish a Truth and Reconciliation Commission nor hold free and fair elections,” he claimed, alleging that PPP workers had been targeted during the AJK election campaign.
On proposals to create new provinces, he said the PPP would support such measures only if they reflected the will of the people.
Published in Dawn, August 8th, 2026
