- Bilawal urges people to vote for PPP in AJK polls.
- PPP chief vows Pakistan-like rights for AJK citizens.
- Reiterates call for truth commission to address issues.
Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on Wednesday claimed that the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) wanted to make three-time former prime minister Nawaz Sharif the premier of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK).
Addressing a public rally in LA-3 Mirpur City, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, whose party is a key coalition partner in the federal government, said: “They (PML-N) want a citizen of Raiwind who has served as prime minister three times to also become the premier of AJK.”
The PML-N wanted to amend the Constitution to pave the way for Pakistan’s prime minister to appoint the AJK premier, Bilawal added.
The PPP leader’s remarks came a day after PML-N President Nawaz Sharif, on a lighter note, had said he would ask Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to make him the prime minister of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) if the party won the upcoming elections.
Elections for the AJK Legislative Assembly is slated to be held in three phases, starting from July 27. According to AJK Chief Election Commissioner Ghulam Mustafa Mughal, Mirpur Division will vote first on July 27, Muzaffarabad Division on August 2 and Poonch Division on August 10.
Addressing the election rally, the PPP leader said: “This election in AJK is not a general election but perhaps the most important election in history. The future of AJK is linked to the polls.”
Lauding the PPP’s services for the country, Bilawal said that Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto gave Pakistan a unanimous Constitution. President Asif Ali Zardari made history by obtaining the rights of the provinces in the 18th Amendment, he added.
He urged people to vote for the PPP in the upcoming elections.
“I want to give the people of AJK the rights that the people of Pakistan have,” Bilawal added.
Castigating the PML-N, the PPP leader said: “Those who think the 12 seats of AJK are in their pockets will do injustice to you.”
Bilawal said migrants should be allowed to vote and contest elections, but the fate of AJK should be decided by the people of Kashmir.
Turning to the ongoing protests in AJK, the PPP leader reiterated his call for the formation of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
Referring to the suspension of internet and cellular services in the region, the PPP leader said both the protesters and the state were “punishing” the masses.
Responding to the recent criticism by Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz during a rally in Muzaffarabad over the governance of the PPP-led Sindh government, Bilawal said: “They talk as if rivers of milk and honey are flowing in every part of Punjab.”
“They (PML-N) see only Raiwind as Punjab,” the PPP chief said, mocking the party’s development claims, and asked if the PML-N leadership had ever seen the conditions in Cholistan, Pothohar, Rajanpur, Vehari and Dera Ghazi Khan.
