Coalition partners PPP, PML-N spar after first phase of AJK elections as political temperatures rise

The PPP and the PML-N, coalition partners in the Centre, traded barbs on Tuesday after the conclusion of the first phase of elections in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), with Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari’s party alleging rigging in the polls and Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz urging it to accept defeat.

The PML-N grabbed nine out of the 13 constituencies of AJK’s Mirpur division in yesterday’s elections, preliminary results issued by the Election Commission showed.

Polls in AJK are being held in three phases over security concerns, with the first set of polls held in Mirpur division on Monday. Scuffles, violence and allegations of rigging had marred the polling process, with the PML-N and PPP accusing each other of electoral malpractice.

In a televised statement, Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz hailed the “outstanding victory” of the PML-N in the first phase of the AJK elections, urging the PPP to accept defeat.

“The PPP should have accepted its defeat by affirming the spirit of democracy, but I felt aggrieved by the kind of words used by PPP leaders.”

“The state does not decide election results; only the people make this decision,” she said in response to PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari’s allegations.

She added that when the PPP secured a majority in Gilgit-Baltistan’s elections, the PML-N acknowledged it, congratulated it and offered it the opportunity to form the government.

“Now you are alleging rigging by the PML-N; when you won the GB election, there was no rigging there, but as you have lost the AJK election badly, you are now levelling rigging allegations,” CM Maryam said.

The provincial chief executive further said that the PPP should have worked on its performance, built its narrative and presented a programme for the people. “Neither did you have the narrative, nor the performance, nor a programme for the people of AJK or any record of your governance.”

The Punjab chief minister added that the “continuity” the PPP received in Sindh could never be achieved by any other party. “Despite this, you had no project to show from Sindh; you could not tell [people about] your performance and could not give a roadmap of the future to the people of AJK.”

“If you want to get votes, you cannot cry before the people; the people are much more aware these days.”

CM Maryam said that during its election speeches, the PPP leadership kept blaming the federal government; however, it had forgotten that the PPP had been in power in AJK for the past year.

“During the PPP’s tenure, conditions in AJK became worse. You could not control the situation, and now you are crying over rigging,” she alleged.

She advised the PPP to improve its performance in Sindh and work on improving its roads.

“Whoever comes from Sindh to Punjab says that they also want Punjab-like Sindh and Lahore-like Karachi,” she said, advising the PPP to hold itself accountable for why it could not deliver in Sindh.

“How could you build AJK’s roads when the roads in your own province are wrecked?” she questioned.

“During the AJK election campaign, I said that we would make AJK like Punjab; however, after ruling Sindh for 17 years, you could not say that you would turn AJK into Sindh in terms of performance.”

Punjab CM Maryam reminded the PPP that when elections are held in AJK, no interim setup takes charge there. “If you are alleging rigging, why do you forget who was ruling AJK before the elections? The PML-N was not in government there, but the PPP was,” she said.

“For the past year, you have been in power in AJK, but you could neither deliver nor take responsibility for the situation,” she said while criticising the PPP.

CM Maryam further said that the people of AJK wanted progress in their region and chose the PML-N because it had delivered in Punjab.

For the upcoming phases of the AJK elections, she urged the people of the Poonch and Muzaffarabad divisions to vote for the PML-N.

In her address, she congratulated the people of AJK for making the “best choice” by voting for the PML-N. She also congratulated her party for securing an “outstanding victory” in the first phase of the AJK elections.

Shortly after Maryam’s address, Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal, flanked by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Tariq Fazal Chaudhry, urged the PPP chairman to refrain from making “immature statements”, terming his rigging allegations “undemocratic”.

The minister questioned the PPP’s governance in Sindh, drawing a comparison with the PML-N’s performance in Punjab.

“Everyone faced the same question: whether they wanted to turn AJK into ruins, as PPP did with Karachi, or make it as developed as Lahore,” he remarked.

Labelling the PPP chairman’s accusations “undemocratic”, he said, “Everything was fine yesterday until 6pm; no allegations of rigging surfaced, and nothing was brought to notice, but that changed as soon as the results came in.”

Iqbal recalled that when the PPP won the elections in GB, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif congratulated the party and invited it to form the government.

He said Bilawal’s “immature” statements were “reflective of a undemocratic mindset” and called on the PPP chairman to congratulate the PML-N on its victory rather than level rigging allegations.

Responding to Maryam’s televised statement, Senior Sindh Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon accused the PML-N of “stealing the mandate” of AJK’s people through “rigged elections”.

He said that weapons were used openly during the AJK elections and that a PPP worker was martyred, which the PML-N leader and Punjab chief minister should have condemned. However, he added, she displayed arrogance in her remarks.

Sharjeel accused the PML-N of governing Punjab despite not being voted into power by the people. He added that the party wanted to win seats through rigging in AJK as well.

“You are sitting in your position due to a fake mandate,” Sharjeel said, addressing CM Maryam.

He said that the nation decides based on a party’s performance, which was why the PPP’s voter base has “increased with every election”.

Comparing the PML-N government to a tenant that had assumed itself to be the landowner, the minister reminded his coalition partners that the PPP leadership “had made sacrifices for the nation, while the PML-N’s leadership has signed deals to flee the country” during times of hardship.

Comparing the election campaigns of the two parties, Sharjeel said the PML-N did not even “remember Kashmir until three days before the polls”.

“PPP is acting responsibly and believes that it must maintain peace, but your party is willing to do whatever it takes just to win the elections, whether it is sacrificing innocent lives or stealing people’s mandate,” he said, addressing CM Maryam.