Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf announced on Friday that it would boycott the upcoming Azad Jammu and Kashmir general elections, scheduled for July 27, saying conditions in the territory no longer permitted a credible electoral process (Express Tribune; Pakistan Today).
A statement from PTI’s core committee cited sit-ins continuing in Rawalakot and other areas, the use of force against protesters that has led to loss of life, disruption to food and essential goods supplies, the arrest of political workers and a JAAC leader, and restrictions on freedom of expression and the media (Daily Pakistan; Shafaqna). The party immediately suspended all Parliamentary Board recommendations on ticket allocations and halted all election-related activities until further notice.
The AJK elections have been complicated by weeks of civil unrest rooted in protests by the Jammu Kashmir Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC), a grassroots umbrella organisation that the AJK government proscribed in June after clashes in Rawalakot left at least eleven people dead. The JAAC’s protests centred on the reservation of twelve legislative seats for Kashmiri refugees living in other parts of Pakistan and longstanding grievances over the cost of essential goods and energy subsidies.
PTI chairman Barrister Gohar initially appeared to deny the boycott, telling media the party had not taken a final decision — a discrepancy that suggested internal disagreement within PTI’s leadership on the move (Pakistan Today). The formal announcement subsequently confirmed the boycott.
With the AJK Supreme Court entering its summer recess until October 7, any legal challenge to the electoral arrangements is unlikely to be heard before polling day. PTI’s withdrawal removes the main opposition voice from the ballot and is likely to smooth the path for PPP and PML-N candidates, who form the governing coalition both in Islamabad and — following the June 7 Gilgit-Baltistan elections — in the adjacent territory.
