{"id":130841,"date":"2026-08-07T16:08:49","date_gmt":"2026-08-07T11:08:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/?p=130841"},"modified":"2026-08-07T16:08:56","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T11:08:56","slug":"schedule-for-3rd-phase-of-ajk-polls-revised-over-law-and-order-concerns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/130841\/","title":{"rendered":"Schedule for 3rd phase of AJK polls revised over law and order concerns"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">MUZAFFARABAD(National Times)- The Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Election Commission on Friday revised the schedule for the third phase of elections in the region, saying polling would only be held in Poonch Division\u2019s Bagh and Haveli districts on August 10 amid concerns over the law and order situation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Elections are being held across AJK in&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/2017254\"><u>three phases<\/u><\/a>&nbsp;amid&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/2020373\">tensions<\/a>&nbsp;between protesters and the authorities. Polls in&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/2018691\/polling-concludes-in-mirpur-division-as-scuffles-rigging-allegations-mar-first-phase-of-ajk-elections\"><u>Mirpur<\/u><\/a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/2020095\/second-phase-of-ajk-polls-concludes-amid-renewed-rigging-allegations-by-ppp\"><u>Muzaffarabad<\/u><\/a>&nbsp;divisions were held on July 27 and August 2, respectively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The third phase in Poonch division was set for August 10. Poonch Division comprises 11 constituencies \u2014 three in Bagh, one in Haveli, five in Poonch and two in Sudhnoti district.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">However, the Election Commission said in a press release on Friday that the electoral process will go ahead as planned on August 10 in only the division\u2019s Bagh and Haveli districts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In its press release, the AJK Election Commission said polling will be held in the three constituencies of Bagh and one of Haveli on August 10 as per the previous schedule.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">However, the electoral process in the constituencies of Poonch district and Sudhnoti\u2019s Pallandri will not be held on August 10, it said. The Election Commission said it reviewed the \u201ccurrent situation\u201d regarding the scheduled elections in Poonch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It noted that according to a report it received from the AJK home secretary, there were \u201cconcerns over the law and order situation in some areas of Poonch district and Pallandri district\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cMoreover, the Election Commission received requests from some political personalities and candidates hailing from these districts, in which it has been requested to postpone the elections in Poonch district and Pallandri district considering the current situation,\u201d the press release read.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The electoral watchdog said it will announce the new polling dates and a revised election schedule for Poonch and Pallandri after reviewing the situation and \u201cconsidering all relevant matters\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The commission clarified that the decision to postpone some of the polls was taken \u201conly in the context of the current law and order situation to ensure that elections are held in a free, fair, transparent and peaceful environment\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Election Commission\u2019s decision comes in the wake of&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/2019163\">clashes<\/a>&nbsp;that took place between protesters and law enforcement personnel in Poonch district\u2019s Rawalakot on July 27, which&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/2019279\">reportedly<\/a>&nbsp;resulted in several casualties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Rawalakot has been gripped by unrest since&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/2006082\">early June<\/a>, with the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/2005462\"><u>proscribed<\/u><\/a>&nbsp;Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC) staging&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/2015537#:~:text=Mutyalmera%20is%20one%20of%20around%20half%20a%20dozen%20locations%20on%20the%20outskirts%20of%20Rawalakot%20where%20JAAC%20activists%20and%20supporters%20have%20been%20maintaining%20relatively%20small%20protest%20camps.\">sit-ins<\/a>&nbsp;periodically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The JAAC, which has been demanding the abolishment of 12 seats in the local legislature reserved for refugees from Indian-held Kashmir, has been holding protests in the region for several weeks now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The government has&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/2019021\"><u>accused<\/u><\/a>&nbsp;militant elements \u201cpursuing a foreign agenda and backed by Indian funding\u201d of fomenting the unrest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Earlier this week, AJK Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Ghulam Mustafa Mughal&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/2020385#:~:text=CEC%20stresses%20law%20and%20order%20for%20polling%20to%20go%20ahead%20on%20all%20Poonch%20seats\">noted<\/a>&nbsp;that the \u201claw and order situation and the demands of the safety of voters play an important role in holding elections\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Responding to a question, he had said that under the AJK constitution, the current Legislative Assembly ceases to exist after August 4.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cEven if elections cannot be held in two or a few more constituencies, one cannot say that the house is not complete or those who have returned cannot take oath or perform their functions,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He said the new assembly would still take oath after the completion of the August 10 polls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/2021240\/schedule-for-3rd-phase-of-ajk-polls-revised-over-law-and-order-concerns#pml-n-has-already-won-rana-sana\"><\/a>PML-N has already won: Rana Sana<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">PML-N leader and Adviser to the Prime Minister on Political Affairs Rana Sanaullah addressed a public gathering in AJK\u2019s Haveli today, where he said his party had already won the required number of seats in AJK and was set to form the government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He said 23 seats were required for a simple majority in the assembly, while the PML-N had already won 24.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Sanaullah told the rally\u2019s participants that the PML-N would focus on development in AJK, which he said had been witnessed in the past every time the party was in the government in the Centre and AJK at the same time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>MUZAFFARABAD(National Times)- The Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Election Commission on Friday revised the schedule for the third phase of elections in the region, saying polling would only be held in Poonch Division\u2019s Bagh and Haveli districts on August 10 amid concerns over the law and order situation. Elections are being held across AJK in&nbsp;three [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":130842,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-130841","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest_news","entry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Schedule for 3rd phase of AJK polls revised over law and order concerns - Nation<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/130841\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Schedule for 3rd phase of AJK polls revised over law and order concerns - Nation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"MUZAFFARABAD(National Times)- The Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Election Commission on Friday revised the schedule for the third phase of elections in the region, saying polling would only be held in Poonch Division\u2019s Bagh and Haveli districts on August 10 amid concerns over the law and order situation. 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