Polls for 7 reserved seats in AJK Legislative Assembly today

Polls for 7 reserved seats in AJK Legislative Assembly today.

Key points

• News DeskTariq Naqash Published August 24, 2026 Updated August 24, 2026 10: 35am.
• For the seat reserved for Ulema and Mashaikh, PPP's Hafiz Tariq Mahmood will face PML-N's Mohammad Mazhar Saeed.
• Similarly, PML-N's Barrister Syed Iftikhar Gillani and PPP's Sahibzada Zulfiqar Ali will contest the seat reserved for technocrats and professionals.
• Elections on seven reserved seats in the Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Legislative Assembly will he held today (Monday).
• Consequently, the 38 members elected so far, representing 84.4 per cent of the directly elected membership, will participate in the reserved seat elections.

News DeskTariq Naqash Published August 24, 2026 Updated August 24, 2026 10: 35am. Join our Whatsapp Channel. Add Dawn as a trusted source.

Polling was scheduled to start at 10am but has yet to commence. It will continue until 1pm.

Under Article 22(1) of the AJK Constitution, the Legislative Assembly consists of 53 members, including 45 members elected directly through adult franchise and eight members chosen by directly elected representatives.

For context, the reserved seats include five seats for women and one each for Ulema-I-Din or Mashaikh well-versed in the teachings of Islam, Jammu and Kashmir State subjects residing abroad, and technocrats and other professionals.

PML-N's Chaudhry Abdul Rehman Arain was the only candidate to have submitted his nomination papers for the seat reserved for state subjects residing abroad. He was consequently declared elected unopposed.

Elections to seven of the 45 directly elected seats – five in Poonch district and two in Sudhnoti district – could not be held due to the law and order situation in the region. Consequently, the 38 members elected so far, representing 84.4 per cent of the directly elected membership, will participate in the reserved seat elections.

Six candidates will contest five seats reserved for women, according to the final list issued by the Election Commission on Sunday. The candidates in the fray are PML-N's Riffat Abid, Sehrish Qamar, Maryam Idrees and Maryam Zaman, additionally known as Maryam Kashmiri, and PPP's Farzana Yaqoob and Zobia Khurshid Raja.

As the inaugural session of the incoming Legislative Assembly has already been summoned for 2pm on Monday, shortly after the announcement of the results, all newly elected members will take an oath at the hands of outgoing Speaker Chaudhry Latif Akbar. This person failed to retain his seat in the elections.

Notably, the elections in the region, originally scheduled for July 27, were divided into phases over security reservations against the backdrop of unrest in the region. The first phase was held on July 27, the second on Aug 2 and the third on Aug 10.

Meanwhile, the third phase was originally meant to cover all of Poonch Division. It comprises 11 constituencies, including three in Bagh, one in Haveli, five in Poonch district and two in Sudhnoti district.

Nevertheless, the AJK Election Commission unveiled that polling would only go ahead as scheduled in Bagh and Haveli since of worries over the law and order situation.

So far, in the direct elections to 38 constituencies, the PML-N has secured 25 seats while the PPP won 12. The lone MLA-elect of the Awami Dast-o-Bazu party has additionally joined hands with the PML-N.

In practice, the PPP has alleged widespread rigging in the polls, with the party additionally ramping up its criticism of the ruling PML-N in recent days.

Last week, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari remarked that a genuine alliance with the PML-N was not feasible until their grievances regarding the AJK polls were addressed as he established formal contact with the PTI and offered to cooperate with the party in Parliament.

Speaking to the media, the PPP chairman alleged that the AJK election process had been created controversial for political interests. He alleged that the federal government's political and administrative machinery had remained active in AJK throughout the six-phase election process, raising serious questions over its transparency.

In practice, the PPP, he remarked, had raised its objections before the Election Commission, parliament and other constitutional forums, but the PML-N had failed to address its worries or engage in meaningful dialogue after the polls.

Moreover, he remarked the commitments and political understandings reached with the PML-N before the prime minister's election had not been honoured. The PPP had cooperated in the wider national interest, he remarked, but there could be no genuine alliance with the PML-N unless the party's worries over the AJK elections were addressed and political commitments fulfilled.

He observed that the administration needed PPP's votes for a number of notable laws, constitutional amendments and tough bills. He remarked legislation could not be forced through on the basis of a majority or through coercion.

In practice, the discord between the PPP and PML-N was additionally apparent in the National Assembly on Aug 18, when the former managed to compel the administration to virtually suspend the heavy legislative agenda for the day. It included 21 bills.

When the lower house of Parliament passed two bills pertaining to the military and nuclear command structure, the PPP additionally objected to the manner in which the legislation was presented, on Aug 20. While the party ultimately voted in favour of the bills, Bilawal lashed out at the administration for not taking ruling allies on board.

Tariq Naqash is a Muzaffarabad-based senior staff correspondent for Dawn with almost three decades of experience in reporting, analysis, and feature writing. His work focuses on politics, conflict, and governance. He can be discovered on X at @tariqnaqash.

For now, polls for 7 reserved seats in AJK Legislative Assembly today remains the part of the story worth watching, and further updates are likely as more details are confirmed.