PML-N rejects NCOC letter suggesting delay in Azad Kashmir elections

 

• Former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi dismisses NCOC letter calling for a delay in AJK polls.
• A day earlier, NCOC had suggested postponing the AJK elections for two months, saying the process will lead to an increase in the number of coronavirus cases.
• The same thing that happened in Gilgit-Baltistan is being repeated in Azad Kashmir, says Abbasi.

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) has rejected a letter by the National Command and Operation Centre suggesting postponing the Azad Jammu and Kashmir elections for two months because of the coronavirus pandemic.

PML-N leader and former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi spoke to the media in Islamabad about PML-N's stance over NCOC's letter on Tuesday.

"What has NCOC got to do with [the] elections?" Abbasi asked, saying that this is a conspiracy for rigging. "The same thing that happened in Gilgit-Baltistan is being repeated in Azad Kashmir," he said.

He said a rigging attempt was being made. 

Abbasi questioned whether NCOC talking about a delay in elections is constitutional. "Haven't elections been held in other parts of the country?" he asked.

He insisted that this is an attempt to "steal" the elections in AJK and made references to previous elections in Pakistan.

Let the elections be held according to the will of the people, Abbasi said, adding that the PML-N wants the elections in AJK to be on time. "We reject the NCOC letter. It should be withdrawn," he said.

Read more: NCOC suggests postponement of AJK election due to COVID-19

"Consider it resistance or reconciliation, but the politics of PML-N is based on the constitution and principles," he said.

Refuting media reports of the PML-N making an effort to bring the PPP back into the PDM alliance, Abbasi said they have made "zero efforts".

"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.

What did NCOC's letter about the AJK polls say?

A day earlier, NCOC had suggested postponing the AJK elections for two months, saying the process will lead to an increase in the number of coronavirus cases.

The NCOC wrote a letter to the chief election commissioner of AJK, stating that due to the rise in the number of coronavirus cases in the country, the polls should be delayed.

Read more: Bilawal announces PPP candidates for AJK elections

The letter said that large political gatherings due to elections will lead to the further spread of the potentially deadly virus in the state, adding that the number of coronavirus positive cases are already high therein.

The NCOC said one million residents of AJK could be vaccinated by September 2021.

The AJK Assembly's terms will end on July 29, but so far, the schedule for the new election has not been issued.