MUZAFFARABAD(National Times)- In a widely anticipated move, the PTI on Thursday announced its decision to boycott the upcoming Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) general election, stating it would instead stand by the people amid the prevailing political and social unrest.
The announcement was made by PTI regional president and former AJK prime minister Sardar Abdul Qayyum Niazi through a statement shared with Dawn by his press secretary.
“Expressing unwavering solidarity with the aspirations, right to self-determination, and democratic rights of the people of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, the PTI has decided not to participate in the elections under the current circumstances,” Niazi said.
He said that the decision was not a political strategy, but a principled stance aimed at aligning with the public.
Pointing to the ongoing turmoil across the AJK, the former premier noted that thousands of citizens were staging sit-ins in Rawalakot and various other areas in pursuit of their demands. He lamented that several precious lives had already been lost due to the high-handedness and use of force by the government.
Furthermore, Niazi said that the suspension of food supply lines from Punjab to AJK had plunged the populace into severe economic distress.
“In such circumstances, instead of pushing the Kashmiri people towards further political instability, an immediate and just solution to their problems must be found,” he urged.
The PTI regional chief warned that the government’s current administrative measures were eroding AJK’s constitutional, democratic, and political identity. He cautioned that an environment was being engineered to blur the fundamental distinction between liberated and occupied territories of Jammu and Kashmir, a trajectory he described as deeply damaging to Pakistan’s Kashmir policy.
He said the electoral process completely loses its credibility and meaning when the public is out on the streets, representative voices are being muzzled, political workers and leaders face arrests, and strict curbs are placed on the media and freedom of expression.
“The PTI will not engage in the politics of power by ignoring the voice of the Kashmiri people,” he said, adding that his party’s topmost priority remained the protection of basic human rights and a justice-based political process.
Spelling out the party’s prerequisites for returning to the democratic process, Niazi said that the PTI would stay away from the polls until normalcy is restored, grievances of all political and public forces are genuinely addressed, and the issues raised by the Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC) are resolved through mutual understanding.
He also demanded a revision of the election schedule to ensure a level playing field for all political parties.
He said the decision was entirely divorced from any calculations of political gain or loss. Rather, the focus of the PTI’s political campaign would be to struggle for the democratic rights of Kashmiris and advocate for a just settlement of the JAAC’s demands, he said.
