MOSCOW, August 13 (HS/RIA Novosti) - The governing Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PMLN) won the majority in the Kashmir legislative elections, Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Tariq Fazal Chaudhry said on Thursday.
Following the third phase, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz won 24 seats. After the reserved seats are allocated, the party’s total number of seats will reach 30. Overall, the elections in Azad Jammu and Kashmir were fair, transparent and credible, the minister said on X.
The speaker of the regional parliament and the prime minister of Pakistan-administered Azad Kashmir will be elected at a session of the Legislative Assembly held next week, he said.
The Legislative Assembly has 53 seats — 45 general seats and eight seats reserved for women, religious figures and representatives of the Kashmiri diaspora. A party needs 27 seats to win a majority.
The elections took place on Wednesday against the backdrop of deadly protests. The Joint Action Committee (JAAC), the organizer of the protests, accused authorities of being responsible for the deaths of 35 people in late July. JAAC, which is banned in Pakistan, opposes parliament quotas for refugees from Indian-administered Kashmir.
Pakistani authorities rejected the allegations, saying that police had acted in self-defense after being attacked by the protesters, and that militants funded by India were involved in the protests.
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Hindusthan Samachar / Indrani Sarkar