Unofficial results: MQM wins Azad Kashmir assembly elections

Election Commission says candidates must withdraw 48 hours before polls.

KARACHI:

Candidates of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) won the elections for the Azad Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly, according to unofficial results released late on Wednesday.

The polls for LA-30 (Jammu) and LA- 36 (Kashmir Valley-1) seats were held in Sindh, Balochistan and Punjab. The voting turnout was said to be around 76%.

MQM candidate Muhammad Tahir Khokhar bagged 30,326 votes, while Abdul Rashid Mirza of Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) received 18,301 votes.

In LA-36, out of the 6,199 registered votes, MQM candidate Muhammad Saleem Butt received 4,633 votes. A total of 4,715 votes were cast out of which 12 were rejected.

The AJK Muslim Conference and PPP had already announced to withdraw their candidates in support of MQM. Despite this, Muhammad Iqbal Kashmiri of PPP got 52 votes in LA-36.

Talking to The Express Tribune, Deputy Election Commissioner Najeeb Ahmed said that MQM candidates have won the election and the official result would be released later.

The polling started at around 8 am, which continued till 5 pm. Strict security measures were taken at the polling stations and police was deployed to avert any untoward incident.

There are 68,580 registered votes in LA-30 constituency, which falls in around 43 districts of the country. Of these 29,861 voters are in Karachi, 2,497 in other districts of Sindh, 31,738 in Punjab, and 4,484 in Balochistan.

Twelve candidates contested the election in LA-30, while 11 candidates contested the election from LA-36.

Although the PPP had announced on Tuesday to withdraw its candidate in support of the MQM, election commission officials said the withdrawal had to be made at least 48 hours before the elections.

Altaf greets party workers on poll win

Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) chief Altaf Hussain has said that with the victory of his party’s candidates in elections for the AJK Legislative Assembly, it has become evident that the MQM was a national political party.

Addressing MQM workers at Nine Zero by phone from London, Altaf said that the MQM had become a part of the opposition and extended the hand of friendship to the PML-N and JUI-F.

“We will appreciate the good work done by the government and similarly we will criticise it for those issues which will be against the wish of the people,” he said, according to a press release issued by the MQM media office on Wednesday.

He said that Sindh Governor Ishratul Ebad was asked to resume his office at the demands of religious scholars, business community, intellectuals, writers, traders and peace-loving people. “The Coordination Committee arrived at the decision in light of the appeals from the various segments of society and I upheld their decision,” he said.

Referring to the ISI and the Army, the MQM chief said that both were not above the law and constitution. Strong action should be taken if an officer or a general misuses the authority. The people have every right to criticise the ISI and the Army but the US must be told that no one would be allowed to harm the ISI, the Army and the national defence institutions, he added.

Altaf said there should be no no-go area in Karachi. “Any area, whether dominated by the PPP, ANP or even the MQM, should be open to all,” he added.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 21^st,  2011.