Raja Pervaiz Ashraf urges PPP to boycott final AJK poll phase

Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leader Raja Pervaiz Ashraf on Sunday said the party should consider

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leader Raja Pervaiz Ashraf on Sunday said the party should consider rejecting the results of the Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) elections and boycott the third phase of polling, alleging widespread irregularities and electoral misconduct.

Speaking at a press conference alongside PPP leader Sherry Rehman and other party members in Islamabad, the former prime minister clarified that the proposal reflected his personal opinion, adding that the final decision would be made by the party’s central leadership.

Ashraf alleged that the elections were neither free, fair nor transparent, warning that such results would fail to gain public acceptance. He said political workers were well aware of constituencies where the party had strong support and accused the authorities of manipulating outcomes in areas where the PPP expected to perform well.

Expressing disappointment over the second phase of the AJK elections, he said the PPP had already submitted documented evidence of irregularities during the first phase. He referred to one constituency where polling could not be held because election materials allegedly failed to reach polling stations.

Ashraf questioned the explanation, saying election materials are normally delivered a day before polling and not on election day. He argued that such failures reflected serious administrative shortcomings.

The PPP leader also alleged that party workers were assaulted and forcibly removed from polling stations during voting. He said the PPP had formed a joint committee with its coalition partner, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), after the first phase in the hope that the Election Commission would ensure greater vigilance during the second phase.

However, he claimed that similar incidents were repeated despite those efforts.

While acknowledging that the PML-N remains a coalition ally, Ashraf questioned the party’s role in the alleged irregularities. He asked whether such conduct was consistent with democratic values and said transparent elections were the Election Commission’s foremost constitutional responsibility.

He further alleged that the Chief Election Commissioner had failed to take action on any major complaint and accused the Election Commission of acting under the influence of a political party. According to Ashraf, the overall conduct of the elections suggested that the process had been pre-planned.

The former prime minister also alleged that current AJK Speaker and Acting President Chaudhry Latif Akbar was physically attacked by PML-N supporters. He claimed that Akbar was abused, assaulted and punched during the incident, criticising attempts to describe the episode as a mere verbal altercation.

Ashraf further claimed that a long-time PPP worker was killed in the Khawra constituency and questioned the credibility of an electoral process in which, he alleged, violence had overshadowed voting.

He also referred to the Kotli constituency, where polling reportedly could not be completed because election materials did not reach polling stations, saying it was the Election Commission’s responsibility to ensure timely delivery. He added that voting was also suspended at several polling stations in the constituency of Bazil Naqvi.