AJK elections scheduled for June 26

CNIC required for all voters, rangers and police called for security.

MUZAFFARABAD:

The Azad Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly elections will be held on June 26, with 2.9 million voters eligible to cast their ballot.

AJK Chief Election Commis­sioner Khwaja Muhammad Saeed, a retired judge, announced the schedule at a press conference in Muzaffarabad on Monday, the first time the announcement was made from the region’s capital rather than Islamabad.

The election commission will begin accepting nomination papers on May 26, scrutinise them on May 30 and issue a final list of candidates on June 10.

Under Azad Kashmir law, parties that oppose accession to Pakistan are not allowed contest in the election. Candidates are required to have passed their matriculation examinations and may spend no more than Rs2 million on campaigning for any of the 29 seats up for grabs. They will also be required to submit a declaration of assets with their nomination papers.

The AJK election is the first where a computerised national identity card will be the only acceptable form of identification for voters. The electoral rolls have expanded by 31% since the last election.

“Rangers and police will be deployed for 12 refugee constituencies falling in four provinces.”

The term of the current assembly expires on July 23. Under AJK law, the assembly must be elected by July 8.



Published in The Express Tribune, May 17^th, 2011.