Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) votes on Monday in the first phase of its legislative assembly elections amid tight security. The polls come against the backdrop of months of anti-government protests, a boycott by former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s party, and opposition allegations of military-backed “election engineering.”
Polling began in 13 constituencies across the Mirpur division, the first stage of a three-phase election for 45 directly elected seats in the 53-member assembly. Voting in the remaining constituencies will be held on August 2 and August 10.
More than 1.4 million registered voters are eligible to cast ballots in the first phase, with over 2,500 polling stations set up across the districts of Mirpur, Bhimber, and Kotli. Nearly 300 candidates are contesting the 13 seats.
According to PoK’s Election Commissioner Ghulam Mustafa Mughal, polling in 13 constituencies of the Mirpur division will be held on July 27, nine constituencies of the Muzaffarabad division and all 12 refugee constituencies on August 2, and 11 constituencies of the Poonch division on August 10.
The elections are being held amid one of the region’s biggest protest movements in recent years, with demonstrators accusing the Pakistani administration of economic neglect, political repression, and denying locals a meaningful role in governance. The staggered polls are expected to take place under heavy security arrangements, The News International reported.
Pakistan’s Punjab province deployed about 14,000 police personnel to the region to maintain security following weeks of unrest that left several people dead and hundreds injured.
The contest is primarily between Pakistan’s major political parties: the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), and the Istehkam-e-Pakistan Party (IPP). Nearly 300 candidates are vying for 13 seats in the first phase of polling. Kotli district accounts for 135 candidates contesting six constituencies, while more than 750,000 voters in Mirpur and Bhimber districts will decide the remaining seven seats.
The elections are happening after protests led by the Jammu Kashmir Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC), which demanded subsidised wheat flour and lower electricity tariffs and calls for greater political rights and the abolition of 12 assembly seats reserved for refugees who settled in Pakistan after 1947.
Meanwhile, the Jammu and Kashmir Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC) has called for a boycott of the elections, describing the exercise as a “sham” and alleging that the outcome has already been decided. The group has urged voters to stay away from polling stations in protest.
Islamabad banned JAAC last month, accusing it of planning violence and disrupting public order. The group has rejected the allegations, saying its movement is peaceful.
Former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), which emerged as the largest party in the 2021 elections, is boycotting the vote in support of the protest movement, raising questions over voter participation and the credibility of the electoral process.
Opposition groups and activists have also accused Pakistan’s military establishment of influencing the electoral process through what they describe as “election engineering.” Pakistani authorities have rejected such claims, saying the polls are being conducted in accordance with the law.
The assembly comprises 53 members, including 45 directly elected lawmakers and eight reserved seats for women, technocrats, and religious scholars. Of the elected seats, 12 are reserved for refugees from Jammu and Kashmir who settled in Pakistan after 1947, an arrangement that remains at the centre of the ongoing political dispute.
