August 24, 2026
Polling opened in Muzaffarabad for eight reserved seats in the AJK Legislative Assembly — five for women and one each for a technocrat, Ulema and Mashaikh, and an overseas Kashmiri — completing a house still missing seven members.
August 18, 2026
The prime minister's political adviser says the PML-N has secured a two-thirds majority in the 53-member assembly with 25 seats, and thanked Awami Dast-o-Bazu's Sajid Iqbal — who beat a former prime minister in Dhirkot — for joining the party.
August 17, 2026
The PML-N president is personally interviewing candidates for the eight reserved seats to be filled on August 24, while the PPP demands transparent results and accuses its coalition partner of misusing state resources.
August 16, 2026
Nomination papers are due on August 20 and the final candidate list on August 23, with the assembly voting on August 24 for five seats reserved for women and three for technocrats.
July 22, 2026
The AJK Election Commission has announced a three-phase election schedule with the 12 disputed refugee seats formally calendared for August 2. JAAC demanded these seats be abolished. The government's answer was not a political response — it was an administrative one. The calendar itself has become the constitution. By the time the ballots are printed, the argument is settled by scheduling.
July 22, 2026
The Joint Awami Action Committee's threatened July 22 long march on Muzaffarabad did not materialise after the organisation received assurances from what Pakistan Observer described as "powerful quarters" — understood to refer to the military establishment. JAAC has instead announced fresh demonstrations within AJK districts, maintaining pressure without a centralised march that risked clashing directly with the campaign rallies of major political parties and the heavy security deployment ahead of Phase 1 of the AJK elections. The underlying reserved-seats dispute remains unresolved.
July 21, 2026
The JAAC's July 21 deadline expires today with the central impasse — the committee's demand to abolish 12 reserved assembly seats for Kashmiri migrants — remaining unresolved. JAAC has said the long march on Muzaffarabad resumes July 22 if no satisfactory commitment is made. The government has maintained the seats are constitutionally non-negotiable and cannot be removed before elections on July 27. If the march proceeds tomorrow, it will run directly through the final campaign week in the same city where PML-N and PPP plan their biggest rallies.
July 20, 2026
The JAAC's deferred long march deadline falls at midnight on July 21 — less than 24 hours away. The government has maintained its position that the committee's most contested demand, abolition of 12 reserved assembly seats for Kashmiri migrants, is constitutionally non-negotiable. JAAC has said the march on Muzaffarabad resumes July 22 if the demand is not met. With the AJK election six days away and final campaign rallies planned through July 24, a resumed march would run directly through the election campaign window.
Editor — Hamza Azhar Salam · Write to us with suggestions or tips
October 26, 2026
The Pakistan Daily
October 26, 2026
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