PPP sets up parliamentary board to finalise tickets for AJK elections

MUZAFFARABAD: The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) on Thursday announced a 10-member parliamentary board to approve party candidates for the upcoming general elections in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK).

According to a statement shared on the party’s verified social media accounts, the board has been formed to finalise nominations for the AJK polls.

The body includes PPP AJK affairs in-charge Faryal Talpur, regional president Chaudhry Muhammad Yasin, party secretary general and AJK Prime Minister Faisal Mumtaz Rathore, and Legislative Assembly Speaker Chaudhry Latif Akbar. Mr Akbar is also serving as acting president of the party in AJK following the death of former president Barrister Sultan Mahmood on January 31.

Other members of the board are former AJK president and prime minister Sardar Muhammad Yaqoob Khan, senior minister Mian Abdul Waheed, former minister Sardar Qamar-uz-Zaman, and former prime minister Sardar Tanveer Ilyas. Former federal minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Ashraf and party leader Chaudhry Riaz, who assists Ms Talpur in AJK affairs, have also been named on the board.

The PPP’s move comes nearly a month after its main rival, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), constituted a 25-member parliamentary board on April 16. That board included eight members from AJK.

Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI), which has been facing difficulties in securing formal registration with the AJK Election Commission, had earlier set up an 11-member parliamentary board on April 8 comprising members based in AJK.

Bilawal meets AJK prime minister

In a separate development the same day, AJK Prime Minister Faisal Mumtaz Rathore met PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari in Islamabad and briefed him on the political situation in AJK and development schemes being carried out by his government.

According to the party’s social media platforms, Mr Bhutto-Zardari told Mr Rathore that the PPP government in AJK had been formed to fulfil commitments made to the people.

“The promises we made to the Kashmiri people are a trust, and we do not betray that trust,” he was quoted as saying on PPP’s social media platforms.

During the meeting, Mr Bhutto-Zardari directed that the party’s electoral commitments should be implemented without delay and that preparations for the next general elections should be accelerated.

The developments indicate that major political parties have continued organisational preparations ahead of the forthcoming AJK elections, with the PPP now formally putting in place its mechanism for screening and approving candidates.