Vote counting is underway following polling in the third phase of the Azad Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly elections, held on August 10 in Bagh and Haveli districts of the Poonch Division. Elections in the division’s remaining two districts, Poonch and Sudhanoti, were postponed and will be held at a later date to be announced.
According to unofficial and unconfirmed results, the Awami Dast-o-Bazu Party has won one of Bagh district’s three seats, with the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leading on one seat and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leading on another. In Haveli, the PPP candidate is currently ahead.
Bagh District Results
In LA-14 Bagh-1, Awami Dast-o-Bazu candidate Sajid Iqbal has won the seat, defeating former Azad Kashmir Prime Minister and Muslim Conference leader Sardar Attique Ahmed by a large margin.
In Constituency LA-17 Bagh-4, Pakistan Peoples Party’s Raja Faisal Mumtaz Rathore won with 33,252 votes, while Pakistan Muslim League (N)’s Chaudhry Mohsin Aziz came second with 31,812 votes.
In the third phase of the elections, out of four seats, one was won by the Pakistan Peoples Party and one by the Awami Dast-o-Baazu Party (ADBP). The final results for the other two constituencies have been deferred. Re-polling at 14 polling stations in LA-15 and 9 polling stations in LA-16 will be held on August 15. Polling could not take place at the affected polling stations due to incidents of unrest the previous day.
Recap: First and Second Phases
In the first phase, polling covered 13 seats across the Mirpur Division — four in Mirpur district, three in Bhimber, and six in Kotli. PML-N won 9 seats, while PPP secured 4.
In the second phase, held August 2, elections covered 9 seats in the Muzaffarabad Division and 12 refugee-reserved seats. PML-N won 15 of these, with PPP taking 6.
A party requires at least 23 seats for a simple majority in the Azad Kashmir Legislative Assembly. PML-N had already crossed this threshold with 24 seats combined from the first two phases.
Majority Secured
With the results of polling in third phase, the party position in the Azad Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly so far is:
- PML-N: 24
- PPP: 11
- ADBP: 1
Of the four seats decided in this phase of counting, PML-N currently leads by more than 3,000 votes on one — LA-16 Bagh-3. If that lead holds, PML-N’s total will rise to 25 seats, extending its majority.
What’s Next
A fourth phase will complete the electoral process, with polling for the remaining 7 seats of the Poonch Division — 5 in Poonch and 2 in Sudhanoti districts.
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