AJK election

In the just-concluded elections for the ninth legislative Assembly of AJK, the PPP has achieved a thumping victory by winning 21 seats out of the 41 directly electable slots. It might add to its tally of seats, when elections are held in the three constituencies where they have been postponed due to security reasons as well as for 5 special seats reserved for women and one each for Ulemas, technocrats and overseas Pakistanis.
Ostensibly, it looks to be in a commanding position to form the next government on its own, but there are indications that it might prefer to opt for a coalition government with the Muslim Conference that has clinched only 4 seats, in conformity with its policy of reconciliation.
The losing political parties have kept up the tradition of not accepting the elections results open-heartedly and with a ritualistic devotion have accused the winning party of rigging the polls; a claim that they have not been able to substantiate. Violence and rigging at the individual level have invariably remained the hallmark of elections in Pakistan and for that matter in AJK, and we have also seen it during the current elections, through the eye of our electronic and print media. However to generalize the phenomenon on the basis of individual and sporadic incidents is not fair.
These elections were of special significance, as for the first time PM (N) which usually has been supporting Muslim Conference and fell out with it because of its alliance with Musharraf, directly participated in the AJK elections and has been able to win eight seats. The presence of the PPP and PML (N), the two main political parties of Pakistan, in AJK as a ruling and opposition parties respectively, is a healthy development with regard to the strengthening of democracy in the territory and imparting legitimacy to the electoral process.
The elections in AJK were also a litmus test for the popularity of the two major political parties of Pakistan and meant a lot to them. The pundits also believe that these elections will also determine the pattern of general elections in Pakistan which are due within two years. That was perhaps the reason that in the run-up to these elections, we witnessed very intense campaigning by Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani and the PM (N) leader Nawaz Sharif, who utilised the opportunity to unleash scathing attacks on the ruling PPP with a major thrust on discrediting the PPP leadership, relying on the usual rhetoric about corruption.
The intelligentsia and political pundits believe that the defeat of PML (N) in these elections is a clear sign of the waning popularity of PML (N) in the northern region of Pakistan and AJK. They believe that Nawaz Sharif's obsession to remain stuck in the time wrap and his inability to get rid of the vendetta syndrome might have contributed to the dismal performance of the PM (N). People expected the unfolding of constructive and imaginative policy initiatives relevant to the prevailing conditions. But they were utterly disappointed by his lack of vision. As against his style of campaigning Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani remained issue-oriented and also took care to present the future vision of the party with regard to the development and building of political institutions in the territory. The defeat of PML (N) is perhaps also attributable to his diatribe against the army and intelligence outfits which did not go well with the people, majority of whom hold them in the highest esteem as defenders of the interests of Pakistan, notwithstanding the fall out from the recent incidents.
On the other hand, the PPP victory is viewed as a vindication and endorsement of the strong bonds that exist between the party and the people of Kashmir, especially AJK. Although the democratic set-up in AJK was installed in 1970 through the Presidential system, but the real architect of parliamentary democracy in the territory was Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, who introduced this system through an Act of the Parliament in 1974. The history of elections in AJK reveals that the Muslim Conference which was considered to be the flag-bearer of the cause of the Kashmiris has ruled the territory six times, barring a period from August 1977 to September 1985 when the region was ruled by the chief executives appointed by the martial law regime. Other than the Muslim Conference, the PPP is the only party from Pakistan, which also has had a power stint in AJK. The defeat of the Muslim Conference in the present elections is also proof of the fact that its archaic political creed is fast losing relevance to the new realities.
Another noteworthy phenomenon is that even when the Muslim Conference was in power in AJK, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto was the most popular political leader among its people, who looked upon him as their hero and the staunchest supporter of their cause of self-determination. His famous words in the UN Security Council" We will fight for a thousand years" raised his popularity to dizzying heights. In fact, he was the one who choreographed Pakistan's foreign policy that laid stress on friendship with China and a hard line stance towards India on the issue of Kashmir as well as building bonhomie among the Muslim countries. The tidal wave that he created in Pakistan with his social philosophy also swept across the whole of Kashmir. The people of AJK have paid their debt by reposing confidence in the PPP.
In the domain of foreign relations, he strengthened relations with China and garnered support for the formation of an Islamic bloc through the holding of the Islamic Summit Conference in Lahore in 1974. The Islamic countries looked up to him as a leader of the Muslim world. As a result of the new-found bonhomie with the Muslim countries, millions of Pakistanis went to the Gulf and the Middle Eastern countries as skilled and unskilled workers, whose remittances are the mainstay of our economy. He had a very strong commitment to the cause of Kashmir and advocated a hard line posture towards India. His famous words in the UN Security Council "We will fight for a thousand years" lifted his graph of popularity to dizzying heights.