Kashmir polls leave major parties at loggerheads

ISLAMABAD: Election for the Azad Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly raised the political temperature across the country, with three main parties accusing each other of rigging and poll-related clashes claiming lives of two political workers.
The Pakistan People`s Party (PPP) accused the Punjab government of using its administrative machinery, holding presiding officers hostage and creating rumpus in order to manipulate polling for all nine seats in the province.
The N-League levelled similar allegations against the PPP and claimed that the elections had been held on bogus voter lists.
The Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) boycotted the polls in an aggressive manner and threatened to again part ways with the ruling coalition.
The party decided to file a petition in the Supreme Courts of Pakistan and the AJK against postponement of election in some constituencies on the pretext of law and order.
The AJK election commissioner postponed the polling for LA-37 (Valley 2) — one of two seats in Lahore – because of poor security situation. Elections for LA-30 (Jammu) had been postponed earlier.
“We are being asked by party workers to leave the government,” MQM leader Zahid Mehmood said.
When asked about media reports that MQM leaders in the federal cabinet had presented their resignations to party chief Altaf Hussain, he said: “No, it has not been done so far.”
But he hinted that MQM leaders could resign from the cabinet in two or three days. “We had rejoined the government recently because we wanted to safeguard democracy, but the regime has proved that it has nothing to do with democracy,” he said.
Mr Mehmood alleged that Interior Minister Rehman Malik had put pressure on the MQM for adjustment on several seats in Sindh, Balochistan and Punjab where, he said, there were strong possibilities of victory of the party`s candidates. “Mr Malik asked the MQM to cede the LA-30 and LA-36 seats,” he claimed.
PML-N leader Siddiqul Farooq alleged that in order to manipulate the polls, the PPP had made three voters` lists and “the fourth list, which was handwritten, was distributed among workers and polling staff on the election day”.
“Federal Minister for Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit-Baltistan, Mazoor Wattoo, had accepted that voter lists were bogus and agreed at a recent meeting that the date of the election would be extended for 10 days to ratify them. But the polls were held with the same bogus lists,” he said.
Mr Farooq alleged that a cell set up in the presidency and comprising Mr Malik, Mr Wattoo and PPP leader Babar Awan was supervising the rigging.
He said offices of the National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) remained open for the whole day on Sunday so that PPP`s voters could get their national identity cards to cast votes.
“But unfortunately there was no prior official announcement about the opening of Nadra office and thus workers of PML-N and other parties could not benefit from the facility,” he said.
Minister for Information and Broadcasting Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan said she had no information that her party and its coalition partners, including the MQM, had any understanding for the elections.
She said complaints were being received about rigging in different areas of Punjab. “In Delaywala in Headmarala police limits, MPA Rana Iqbal and his son stopped polling for half an hour and manhandled the PPP agent,” she claimed. The Kashmir Affairs minister accused Punjab police of stopping Rangers from discharging their duties.
He alleged that PML-N workers had captured all polling stations at 8am. “The credibility of polling for nine seats in Punjab is dubious,” he said.
“The PML-N has violated the sanctity of elections and undermined our efforts to show the world free, fair and transparent elections for the AJK Legislative Assembly,” he said.
An activist of N-League was reportedly killed in a clash with PPP workers in Samani valley of Bhimber district.
PPP`s information secretary Qamar Zaman Kaira said PML-N workers had attacked Zikria Butt, media adviser to Punjab PPP chief Raja Riaz. “The PML-N should accept the result of the elections,” he said.
Meanwhile, a spokesman for Punjab Governor Latif Khosa told journalists that Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif had refused to attend a telephone call made by the governor. According to later reports, Mr Sharif called Mr Khosa and discussed the law and order situation during polling in the province.