pThe Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Election Commission on Friday revised the schedule for the third phase of elections in the region, saying polling would only be held in Poonch Divisions Bagh and Haveli districts on August 10 amid concerns over the law and order situation./p pElections are being held across AJK in a href"https://www.dawn.com/news/2017254"three phases/a amid a href"https://www.dawn.com/news/2020373"tensions/a between protesters and the authorities. Polls in a href"https://www.dawn.com/news/2018691/polling-concludes-in-mirpur-division-as-scuffles-rigging-allegations-mar-first-phase-of-ajk-elections"Mirpur/a and a href"https://www.dawn.com/news/2020095/second-phase-of-ajk-polls-concludes-amid-renewed-rigging-allegations-by-ppp"Muzaffarabad/a divisions were held on July 27 and August 2, respectively./p pThe third phase in Poonch division was set for August 10. Poonch Division comprises 11 constituencies three in Bagh, one in Haveli, five in Poonch and two in Sudhnoti district./p pHowever, the Election Commission said in a press release on Friday that the electoral process will go ahead as planned on August 10 in only the divisions Bagh and Haveli districts./p pIn its press release, the AJK Election Commission said polling will be held in the three constituencies of Bagh and one of Haveli on August 10 as per the previous schedule./p pHowever, the electoral process in the constituencies of Poonch district and Sudhnotis Pallandri will not be held on August 10, it said. The Election Commission said it reviewed the current situation regarding the scheduled elections in Poonch./p pIt noted that according to a report it received from the AJK home secretary, there were concerns over the law and order situation in some areas of Poonch district and Pallandri district./p pMoreover, the Election Commission received requests from some political personalities and candidates hailing from these districts, in which it has been requested to postpone the elections in Poonch district and Pallandri district considering the current situation, the press release read./p pThe electoral watchdog said it will announce the new polling dates and a revised election schedule for Poonch and Pallandri after reviewing the situation and considering all relevant matters./p pThe commission clarified that the decision to postpone some of the polls was taken only in the context of the current law and order situation to ensure that elections are held in a free, fair, transparent and peaceful environment./p pThe Election Commissions decision comes in the wake of a href"https://www.dawn.com/news/2019163"clashes/a that took place between protesters and law enforcement personnel in Poonch districts Rawalakot on July 27, which a href"https://www.dawn.com/news/2019279"reportedly/a resulted in several casualties./p pRawalakot has been gripped by unrest since a href"https://www.dawn.com/news/2006082"early June/a, with the a href"https://www.dawn.com/news/2005462"proscribed/a Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC) staging a href"https://www.dawn.com/news/2015537::textMutyalmera20is20one20of20around20half20a20dozen20locations20on20the20outskirts20of20Rawalakot20where20JAAC20activists20and20supporters20have20been20maintaining20relatively20small20protest20camps."sit-ins/a periodically./p pThe JAAC, which has been demanding the abolishment of 12 seats in the local legislature reserved for refugees from Indian-held Kashmir, has been holding protests in the region for several weeks now./p pThe government has a href"https://www.dawn.com/news/2019021"accused/a militant elements pursuing a foreign agenda and backed by Indian funding of fomenting the unrest./p pEarlier this week, AJK Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Ghulam Mustafa Mughal a href"https://www.dawn.com/news/2020385::textCEC20stresses20law20and20order20for20polling20to20go20ahead20on20all20Poonch20seats"noted/a that the law and order situation and the demands of the safety of voters play an important role in holding elections./p pResponding to a question, he had said that under the AJK constitution, the current Legislative Assembly ceases to exist after August 4./p pEven if elections cannot be held in two or a few more constituencies, one cannot say that the house is not complete or those who have returned cannot take oath or perform their functions, he explained./p pHe said the new assembly would still take oath after the completion of the August 10 polls./p

Source: Dawn News

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