ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) has rejected a petition proposed by the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) which suggested postponing the Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) elections by two months.
The NCOC had written a letter to the Chief Election Commissioner of AJK, stating that polls should be delayed keeping in view the rising Corona cases. Elections require large political gatherings which will further escalate the deadly virus in the state, it read.
PML-N leader and former prime minister, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi addressed the media in Islamabad on Tuesday over the issue and criticised the petition.
“What has NCOC got to do with [the] elections? Haven’t elections been held in other parts of the country?” Abbasi asked, saying that this was nothing more but an opportunity for rigging. “The same thing that happened in Gilgit-Baltistan is being repeated in Azad Kashmir,” he said.
He stated that elections should be conducted on time and by the will of the people, adding that the letter must be nullified and withdrawn.
Abbasi further refuted claims regarding the PML-N making efforts to bring the PPP back into the PDM alliance.
“Whoever broke the trust should restore it, otherwise the paths will stay separated. The PPP and ANP are not part of PDM at present,” he said.
After the PML-N, the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) has also opposed the idea of postponing the elections in AJK, saying the Constitution has no such provision.