‘Azad Kashmir polls show PPP still popular’

Kashmir affairs minister says next AJK premier will be from his party.

ISLAMABAD:

Pakistan People’s Party’s (PPP) success in Azad Kashmir elections has nullified fake surveys, claiming a downward trend in party’s popularity, said Kashmir Affairs Minister Mian Manzoor Ahmed Wattoo, on Monday.

According to the results PPP is leading with 21 seats, PML-N is trailing with wins in nine constituencies while Muslim Conference has bagged four seats. Two independent candidates have won elections while elections on four seats have been postponed.

“The PPP…will welcome Muslim Conference for the formation of the government,” Wattoo said. The decision for the next AJK prime minister would be taken by the party leadership but it would be from the PPP, he added.

Kashmir elections, he said, had proved that the president was still popular among the masses. “Our popularity is on the rise,” he added.

“There is no longer a justification for the demand of mid-term elections,” he said. Wattoo said that the PPP government would complete its five-year term, besides winning the next general elections.

The minister said that the Kashmir administration had been impartial in the election process, but things were different in Punjab.

Earlier on Sunday, the minister accused the PML-N of rigging elections on nine immigrants’ seats in Punjab.

Wattoo said that elections on all 29 constituencies of Azad Kashmir had been held in a free and fair environment and there was no report of any untoward incident.

Referring to constituencies where elections were postponed, he said that new schedule for the elections would be announced in a few days.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 28^th, 2011.