AJK polls spark coalition rift

Coalition partners Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) traded acerbic accusations on Tuesday after the first phase of the Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Legislative Assembly elections as the PML-N urged the PPP to accept defeat and the latter alleged widespread electoral manipulation and vowed to defend the public mandate. The political confrontation followed the announcement of preliminary election commission results, which showed the PML-N winning nine of the 13 constituencies contested in Mirpur Division during the opening phase of the three-stage elections. The polling process was marred by scuffles, violence and allegations of rigging, with both parties accusing each other of electoral malpractice.

In a message addressed to PML-N workers and later in a televised statement, Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz congratulated her party on an "outstanding victory" and called on the PPP to accept the verdict of the electorate. She said the PPP had accepted the results when it won elections in Gilgit-Baltistan but was now alleging rigging in AJK despite the fact that no caretaker government existed there and the PPP itself had been in power in AJK for the past year. Maryam also expressed regret over the language used by PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari in his criticism of the election.

"The PPP should have accepted its defeat by affirming the spirit of democracy, but I felt aggrieved by the kind of words used by PPP leaders." She questioned whether Bilawal's allegations of rigging were effectively directed at his own party's government and the federal prime minister, saying the elections had been conducted under a PPP-led government in AJK. "The state does not decide election results; only the people make this decision," she said in response to Bilawal's allegations. According to the Punjab chief minister, the people of AJK had voted for the PML-N because they wanted development and prosperity.

She maintained that after 17 years in power in Sindh, the PPP had failed to present even a single landmark development project to voters during the campaign. Instead, she said, the party had focused on criticism and personal attacks rather than its governance record. "The PPP should have worked on its performance, built its narrative and presented a programme for the people.

Neither did you have the narrative, nor the performance, nor …