After 31 years, elected representatives in Azad Jammu and Kashmir will regain control of their cities and towns in local government elections. They will also go back to managing the valley’s main source of revenue: Tourism.

So far, the results of the elections that started Sunday show that parties against the ruling PTI are leading.

Since 1991 the valley has been run by administrators hand-picked by the government. This is hardly a democratic way to run cities and towns. Elections were due since 1995 but were delayed for “political reasons”.

Our reporter Imtiaz Awan says that elections will put a full stop to the appointment of assistant and deputy commissioners. But it has been so long since Kashmiris have seen a local government system that an entire generation doesn’t know how it works.

Awan explains that the election in effect transfers the rights to govern from administrators to councilors, chairmen to mayors, deputy mayor to deputy chairmen.

But will these newly elected representatives do?

• They will lead the Tourism Department in an area that welcomes more than a million tourists every year
• They will be responsible for tackling environmental pollution that has been aggravated with the climate crisis
• The new mayors will manage municipal committees that oversee sewerage, cleanliness and water supplies
• They will have the reins of education
• Elected representatives will be able to make laws and set budgets. For example, a development fund worth Rs40 million would be given to each councilor

To put it in simple words: the people elected to the local government will have a role in the development of their own rural and urban cities, towns and villages.

Setback for PTI

The PTI has faced a setback in the first phase of the local government elections in Azad Jammu and Kashmir—held after 31 years in the region—as unofficial results showed that rival opposition parties took many seats in urban centres in the Muzaffarabad division.

The PPP and the PML-N have taken most of the seats in the municipal and town committees. The ruling PTI has been more successful in the rural centres, making it difficult for the Imran Khan-led party to elect its mayor and deputy mayors. Aaj News has so far received 25% of the results of the LG polls.

The first phase of the elections concluded peacefully in three districts of Muzaffarabad division on Sunday to elect a total of 595 councilors to district and union councils, municipal corporations, municipal committees, and town committees.

A total of 2,716 candidates, including 900 independent candidates, were in the contest for 595 seats in Muzaffarabad, Neelam Valley, and Hattian Bala districts. In the second phase, polling will be conducted in four districts of Poonch division on December 3.

Polling lasted from 8am to 5pm without any break and long queues of voters lined up at polling stations, the Associated Press of Pakistan reported.

A total of 695,049 voters, including 320,747 women, exercised their right of franchise.

The results so far?

• PML-N: 12
• PTI: 9
• PPP: 8
• Independents: 7

Municipal Corporation Naseerabad

• PPP: 3
• PTI: 2

Neelam valley

• PTI won eight out of 15 Union Councils

At least 2,725 candidates fought elections for 614 seats local bodies seats while 19 candidates have already been named councilors unopposed.

Security

As many as 4,500 policemen were deployed at polling stations and a quick response force was stationed to every sector headed by DSP rank officers to reach in 15 minutes even if any dispute occurs within their jurisdiction, Deputy Inspector General (DIG) police Muzaffarabad Irfan Masood Kashfi said.

The army was also put on standby to control during the polling to control the untoward situations but the process was peacefully concluded and no incident was reported from anywhere till the closure of polling, the DIG added.

Chief Election Commissioner Justice (retd) Abdul Rasheed Sulehria along with senior members of the commission Raja Farooq Niaz also visited different polling stations in Muzaffarabad city and expressed satisfaction over the polling process.

The CEC said that they had received no major complaint of any irregularity in the polling process or any attempt of rigging from anywhere and the overall polling process was transparent and peaceful.

“The people took a keen interest in the polling and turnover is expected very high even more than 70 per cent keeping in view the rush witnessed at polling stations,” he said and lauded district administrations, police, returning officers, and polling staff for conducting transparent elections.

He expressed optimism that the first phase of polling was a precedent for the coming phases and that polling second and third phases would also be conducted peacefully in the same manner.

Muzaffarabad Division Commissioner Masood ur Rehman told APP that 7,785 polling staff were posted on 1,323 polling stations and “foolproof arrangements” were made to transport belt bags back to returning officers’ offices from polling stations after the polling.

More to follow