Voters in Pakistan-administered Kashmir cast their ballots in the final phase of the legislative assembly election on Monday, concluding a campaign overshadowed by weeks of violent protests and clashes with security forces in the disputed Himalayan region.
Residents, including men and women, began queuing early at polling stations across Poonch district, where four assembly seats were being contested.
Raja Shakeel, a spokesperson for the regional election commission, confirmed that voting was proceeding despite a boycott call from the outlawed Joint Awami Action Committee, which had urged locals not to participate.
Pakistan’s ruling Pakistan Muslim League-N party had already secured a majority after winning 24 of the 34 seats decided in the initial two phases of voting. The party is now poised to form the regional government for the first time in a decade.
Security measures were heightened around polling stations as citizens cast their ballots to elect representatives in Kashmir, a territory divided between Pakistan and India.
Both nations assert full claim over the Himalayan region, having fought two of their three wars over it since gaining independence from British colonial rule in 1947.
The latest round of voting saw several prominent politicians vying for seats. Among them were regional prime minister Faisal Rathore, seeking a seat from Haveli, and former prime ministers Sardar Attique Ahmed Khan and Sardar Tanveer Ilyas Khan. Mushtaq Minhas, a senior vice president of the PML-N, was also contesting.
Rana Sanaullah, a political affairs adviser to Pakistani prime minister Shehbaz Sharif, expressed confidence that the PML-N would achieve a two-thirds majority, paving the way for it to lead the next government in Pakistan-administered Kashmir.
Election officials stated that voting for the remaining seats was being conducted in phases due to security concerns, with the entire electoral process expected to conclude this month. Newly elected lawmakers will subsequently be sworn in and tasked with selecting the region’s next prime minister.
The election campaign was significantly impacted by the weeks of protests spearheaded by the JAAC, which advocated for a boycott.
The regional government recently banned the group, citing concerns for security and public order.
At the heart of the dispute between the JAAC and the regional government are 12 legislative seats reserved for individuals displaced from Indian-controlled Kashmir since the end of British rule. The JAAC contends that this arrangement grants disproportionate political influence to those living outside Pakistan-administered Kashmir and demands the abolition of these seats.
The seats were originally established to ensure political representation for people displaced from Indian-controlled Kashmir who subsequently settled elsewhere in Pakistan, as Pakistan-administered Kashmir lacked the capacity to accommodate them.
Formed in 2023, the JAAC has been campaigning for greater political rights for the people of Kashmir. The government maintains it has accepted 36 of the group’s 38 demands, asserting that the disagreement over the reserved seats can only be resolved by the regional assembly itself.