MUZAFFARABAD:
Government employees assigned election duties for the 2026 Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) general elections will cast their votes on Monday (tomorrow) under arrangements made by the AJK Election Commission (EC), enabling them to exercise their franchise before polling day.
According to AJK EC senior member Khawaja Ahsan, polling for election staff will be held at designated polling stations established at the district headquarters of the respective districts to facilitate officials deployed on election duty.
The AJK EC has directed all District Returning Officers (DROs), Returning Officers (ROs), district administrations and other relevant departments to complete all necessary arrangements to ensure that polling for election personnel is conducted in a transparent, orderly and timely manner.
Under the commission’s instructions, Ahsan said all officials assigned election duties have been directed to report to their designated polling stations on the scheduled date and time to cast their votes and strictly comply with the procedures and code of conduct issued by the election commission.
PPP chairman
Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari is set to address a public election rally in Kotli on Sunday (today) as the party steps up its campaign for the July 27 Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Legislative Assembly elections, following an encouraging response to its campaign launch in Dadyal.
The Kotli rally will be Bilawal’s second public gathering of the election campaign after he launched the party’s drive with a rally in Dadyal on July 17.
The PPP claims its campaign has since gained significant momentum across AJK and that the party has further strengthened its position ahead of the polls.
PPP AJK Media Adviser SyedAzadar Hussain Shah said the Kotli rally would demonstrate the party’s public support, expressing confidence that Kashmiris would endorse the PPP’s narrative of the “right to self-governance, right to ownership and right to employment” by voting for the party’s candidates.
“This election is not merely about forming a government but about safeguarding the rights of the people of Kashmir and determining the future course of development, empowerment and prosperity,” he said.
Shah maintained that the large turnout and enthusiastic participation of party workers at the Dadyal rally had energised the election campaign.
Fresh schedule for LA-24
The Azad Jammu and Kashmir Election Commission (AJKEC) has issued a fresh election schedule for LA-24 Poonch-Sudhnoti-7 (Baloch) following the death of independent candidate Zahid Yasin.
According to an AJKEC spokesperson, the returning officer terminated election proceedings in the constituency under Section 45 of the AJK Election Act, 2020, after receiving a report regarding the candidate’s death. In accordance with the law, a fresh election schedule has now been announced.
Under the revised schedule, candidates may submit their nomination papers to the returning officer at the district headquarters in Pallandri until July 21. Scrutiny of nomination papers will be conducted on July 22 from 8:00am to 12:00 noon, after which the provisional list of validly nominated candidates will be published.
Appeals against the returning officer’s decisions may be filed with the AJKEC from July 23 to July 26 until 2:00pm. The commission will hear the appeals on July 28 and announce its decisions the same day.
