By-election: PPP candidate wins AJK women’s seat
Shamshad Aziz is the wife of former Musharraf aide Gen (retd) Aziz.
MUZAFFARABAD:
Shamshad Aziz was elected to the Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Legislative Assembly on Monday on a Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) ticket.
Shamshad, who got elected on reserved seat for women, is wife of former close aide of former President General (retired) Musharraf, General (retd) Muhammad Aziz.
The seat fell vacant after Dr Fozai Ashraf belonging to Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) resigned due to personal reasons on May 6th.
The polling started at 10am in the legislative assembly and continued till 3pm. Shamshad secured 25 votes, while All Jammu and Kashmir Muslim Conference (AJKMC) candidate Summya Sajjad bagged only four votes.
PML-N Azad Kashmir President and Leader of the Opposition Raja Farooq Haider Khan while talking to The Express Tribune alleged that the present assembly was imposed by the then federal government through the money meant for Benzair Income Support Programme (BISP).
“Ruling party members in the assembly have stolen the mandate of the people of Azad Kashmir with the help of Manzoor Wattoo, the then-minister for Kashmir Affairs and Northern Areas,” he blamed. Khan said that this was the reason that they boycotted the election and did not field a candidate for the reserved seat for women.
Earlier, Speaker Sardar Ghulam Sadiq administered oath to Shamshad.
AJK Prime Minister Chaudhry Abdul Majeed, President Sardar Yaqoob and General (retired) Aziz along with other family members attended the oath-taking ceremony.
In AJK, only directly-elected members can vote for the election on reserved seats in the assembly. After the election of Shamshad, PPP now has 30 members in the assembly, PML-N has 11, AJKMC has five, and MQM has two. Meanwhile, the Election Commission of AJK has yet to announce elections on refugees’ seat LA-17 Lahore.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 2nd, 2014.
Shamshad Aziz was elected to the Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Legislative Assembly on Monday on a Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) ticket.
Shamshad, who got elected on reserved seat for women, is wife of former close aide of former President General (retired) Musharraf, General (retd) Muhammad Aziz.
The seat fell vacant after Dr Fozai Ashraf belonging to Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) resigned due to personal reasons on May 6th.
The polling started at 10am in the legislative assembly and continued till 3pm. Shamshad secured 25 votes, while All Jammu and Kashmir Muslim Conference (AJKMC) candidate Summya Sajjad bagged only four votes.
PML-N Azad Kashmir President and Leader of the Opposition Raja Farooq Haider Khan while talking to The Express Tribune alleged that the present assembly was imposed by the then federal government through the money meant for Benzair Income Support Programme (BISP).
“Ruling party members in the assembly have stolen the mandate of the people of Azad Kashmir with the help of Manzoor Wattoo, the then-minister for Kashmir Affairs and Northern Areas,” he blamed. Khan said that this was the reason that they boycotted the election and did not field a candidate for the reserved seat for women.
Earlier, Speaker Sardar Ghulam Sadiq administered oath to Shamshad.
AJK Prime Minister Chaudhry Abdul Majeed, President Sardar Yaqoob and General (retired) Aziz along with other family members attended the oath-taking ceremony.
In AJK, only directly-elected members can vote for the election on reserved seats in the assembly. After the election of Shamshad, PPP now has 30 members in the assembly, PML-N has 11, AJKMC has five, and MQM has two. Meanwhile, the Election Commission of AJK has yet to announce elections on refugees’ seat LA-17 Lahore.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 2nd, 2014.