Nawaz scoffs at foes after poll sweep

Says performance brings success in politics, not sit-ins

MUZAFFARABAD: As the ruling PML-N made a clean sweep in the July 21 polls at the semi-autonomous region of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) by bagging 31 seats in a legislative assembly of 41 members, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif hit out at his arch rivals, particularly the PTI, for its ‘politics of sit-ins’.

“Dharna parties should keep it in mind that success in politics demands performance not sit-ins,” the prime minister said while addressing a rally in the AJK’s capital on Friday.



“Thanks God, we are setting a new record of development in Pakistan that is being evidenced by the world. Pakistan has joined the emerging markets,” said a visibly happy premier, who was making his first public appearance after his recovery from an open heart surgery.

The prime minister had resumed his official duties in Islamabad only a day earlier.

Referring to the defeat of the PTI’s Barrister Sultan by his party’s Chaudhry Saeed, Nawaz said the AJK people had defeated the mainstream leaders of the opposition parties.

He also laughed off the much-hyped mass movement announced by the PTI against his government, saying one could guess what would be the scale of that movement.

“They will launch the movement only to the size of what they got in AJK general election – just two seats,” the prime minister said, adding that the opposition parties heavily criticised him during the election campaign but he did not respond to anyone.

Nawaz Sharif assured the charged gathering that the next five years would be exemplary for the development of the AJK. “The PML- N’s would-be government is going to develop a network of motorways and highways besides spending huge amounts on education and health sectors,” he said.

He said he never discriminated between Pakistan and the AJK and recalled that the PML-N had recently obtained a two-thirds majority in the elections of the Gilgit-Baltistan Legislative Assembly.



He said the AJK people had been faced with massive corruption and malfunctioning in the past and the results of this election was reaction to those malpractices. “It will not happen again. Every penny will be accounted for. I myself will oversee (the spending),” the prime minister assured.

However, the prime minister said at this moment of celebration, we should not forget the oppressed people of Indian Occupied Kashmir who had been sacrificing their lives for their freedom.

“No one can deter their movement. This will meet success. They are being killed. We are awaiting their prayers to be fulfilled and for the day when Kashmir will become Pakistan,” Nawaz said, adding that the people of Pakistan were with their brethren of Occupied Kashmir and would never give up their support.

Nobody will stop the ongoing liberation movement in Kashmir and the people of valley will achieve their goal very soon.  We will never let them down,” he concluded.

Election results

Meanwhile, the AJK Election Commission on Friday issued the final official list of the successful candidates. According to the list the PML-N won 31 out of 41 seats of the AJK Legislative Assembly.

The PTI won 2 seats, the PPP got 3 seats, All Jammu and Kashmir Muslim Conference (AJKMC) bagged 3 seats, Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Party (JKPP) won 1 seat while 1 seat was bagged by an independent candidate.

CREATIVE: NABEEL AHMED

The PML-N’s winning candidates include: Raja Farooq Hider, Shah Ghulam Qadir, Noreen Arif, Barrister Iftikhar Geelani,  Chaudhry Shahzad , Dr Mustafa Bashir, Raja Abdul Qayyum, Mir Akbar, Mushtaq Minhas, Muhammad Aziz, Khan Bahadur Khan, Dr Najeeb Naqi, Farooq Tahir, Yaseen Gulshan, Raja Nisar, Farooq Sikandar, Raja Naseer,  Chaudhry Saeed, Chaudhry Rukhsar, Chaudhry  Masood Khalid, Waqar Noor, Tariq Farooq, Nasir Hussain Dar, Muhammad Ismail, Muhammad Ishaq, Yasir Muhammad Rashid,  Javid Akhtar, Raja Muhammad Saddique, Shaukat Ali Shah, Asad Kaleem Shah and Ahmad Raza.



The PTI failed to win from any constituency in the AJK. However, the party’s Mohiuddin Dewan and Abdul Majid Khan were declared successful from Kashmiri refugees’ two seats in Lahore and Khyber-Pukhtunkhawa (K-P).

Three PPP ticket holders – Chaudhry Abdul Majeed, Chaudhry Yasin and Amir Abdul Ghaffar – were declared the successful candidates. Malik Nawaz, Muhammad Sagir Khan and Sardar Attique Ahmad Khan won seats on the AJKMC ticket. Khalid Ibrahim, a member of JKPP, was declared winner from Rawalakot while independent candidate  Ali Shan  was declared successful.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 23^rd, 2016.