Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari has said the federal government’s “countdown has begun” after his party secured fewer seats in the ongoing “rigged” elections in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK).
The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s (PML-N) government at the Centre is backed by several parties, with the PPP remaining its principal ally. However, during the AJK elections, Bilawal’s party repeatedly alleged that the polls were rigged.
The PML-N has secured a simple majority to form the government in Azad Jammu and Kashmir after winning 23 of the 45 seats, according to Prime Minister’s Adviser on Political Affairs Rana Sanaullah.
“To my friends in the PML-N, can you hear that sound?” The countdown for the federal government has begun,” the PPP chairman said in a video message.
Announcing a public gathering in Bagh district, Bilawal urged supporters in Poonch to prepare for the rally on August 10, saying: “Poonch, I am coming. Get ready.”
Describing the polls as “neither free nor fair”, Bilawal alleged they were “rigged elections”, “bullet elections”, “murderous elections” and “bloody elections”.
Despite the outcome, he congratulated party workers, saying the PPP had secured victory in nine electoral seats. “You have won nine seats for the Pakistan Peoples Party despite all this,” he said.
Bilawal also vowed to reclaim what he described as seats “stolen” in Mirpur and Muzaffarabad, adding that the PPP would continue its struggle.
“The Pakistan Peoples Party does not lose courage. We do not retreat, and we do not leave the field,” he said.
His warning came moments after senior PPP leader and Sindh minister, Sharjeel Inam Memon, also issued a similar warning.
Memon, blasting the PML-N leadership, warned: “The countdown begins for the federal government. “PML-N, in collaboration with the Election Commission, had given ballot papers to its candidates 2 days ago.”
Memon further alleged that the administration was not even listening to the complaints of the current president and prime minister of the AJK.
“Historic rigging was carried out in the AJK poll,” he alleged. Referring to the 2024 “rigged” elections, the PPP leader questioned whether PML-N President Nawaz Sharif, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz had won their seats. –Agencies
