ISLAMABAD, 12 July 2006 — Polling for the 49-seat legislative assembly of Azad Kashmir was held yesterday across Azad Kashmir, different parts of Pakistan and the United Kingdom, where a large number of Kashmiris live.
According to the breakdown, All Jammu and Kashmir Muslim Conference fielded 40 candidates, Pakistan People’s Party 36, and People’s Muslim League 37, while Muttahida Majlis-e Amal’s 33 candidates were in the contest. MQM contested elections for the first time from Azad Kashmir. One hundred and seventy-two independent candidates were also in the run.
Secretary Election Commission of Azad Kashmir Iftikhar Naveed told Arab News polling was held in a peaceful manner. Naveed said fifty candidates were disqualified on various grounds. Voters filed through prefabricated polling centers, tents and buildings scarred by last October’s earthquake to cast their ballots.
According to provisional results the first winner of the election was Shah Ghulam Qadir from the All Pakistan Jammu Kashmir Conference. He was elected from Rawalpindi constituency.
Campaigning had been somber after the quake that killed 73,000 people and destroyed the homes of more than three million people in Kashmir and North West Frontier Province. Soldiers and paramilitary rangers patrolled outside polling stations in Muzaffarabad. Despite the security, four people were wounded in a gunfight between rival supporters in the region’s Mirpur district.
