Elections in PoJK — a farce exercise to befool residents [details]

Statement of Prime Minister of Pakistan occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK) Raja Farooq Haider has substantiated the allegations that the ongoing assembly elections were nothing but a farce exercise to hoodwink the people.

Elections for a total of 45 assembly constituencies, including 33 seats for residents of PoJK and 12 for "refugees" were held on Sunday amid violence and allegations of large-scale booth capturing by supporters of Imran Khan.

While warning Imran Khan government in general and the Pakistani Army in particular, for unnecessary interfering in the ongoing elections, Raja Farooq Haider said that votes have already been cast by the forces. He said that Pakistan Army has denied residents of PoJK their democratic rights by casting votes through oppressive means. 

PoJK 'Prime Minister' warns to stage dharna in Islamabad

Raja Farooq Haider threatened to stage a sit-in protest in Islamabad against direct meddling by the Prime Minister of Pakistan and his ministers in the elections in PoJK.

"Prime Minister Imran Khan and his cabinet members are brazenly desecrating and contravening PoJK Constitution," he said while addressing a press conference recently at Muzaffarabad. He said that the Pakistani government was considering PoJK residents as slaves and trying to buy them through money and muscle power.

On the one hand, Pakistani authorities called PoJK "Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK)" but on the other hand, the Pakistan government has brazenly snatched the democratic rights of the people of the areas under its illegal occupation.

Opposition parties of Pakistan have exposed nefarious designs of the Pakistani government to make AJK, a province of Pakistan through muscle power.

The opposition said it seemed that prime minister Imran Khan had some "secrets and things" which he did not want to share with the people. "If Imran Khan had any options then he should tell the nation as to who had given him these options and why he was not bringing them before the parliament," Pakistani media reported while quoting some leaders of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP).

No transparency in PoJK elections

Amid large-scale violence and booth capturing by the Pakistani Army, opposition parties of Pakistan expressed reservations against the "transparency" of the polling process.

"Transparency and impartiality becoming increasingly questionable in the PoJK elections. Stopping our polling agents from entering the polling stations is a violation of election laws", opposition leaders said.

Quoting Raja Pervez Ashraf, Pakistani media reported that the Imran Khan government has turned elections into a "violent one." Meanwhile, former prime minister Raja Pervez Ashraf accused the federal government of turning the AJK election into a "violent one".

Ashraf accused the government of using every tactic up its sleeve to disturb the electoral process. He also accused some officers of the PoJK administration of interfering in the electoral process.

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