Pakistan Peoples Party Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari said the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz is mistaken if it believes it will form the government in Azad Jammu and Kashmir. Speaking at a public rally in Bagh district, he claimed the PML-N’s government in Islamabad is also at risk.
Bilawal told the crowd that the countdown for the PML-N government has already begun and was started by people within their own ranks. He said a certain section of the PML-N wants Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to fight with his allies. The real fight, according to the PPP leader, is between Islamabad and Lahore and is an internal family issue for the Sharifs.
The PML-N has so far emerged as the leading party in the AJK elections after the first two phases, winning 24 seats while the PPP has secured 10. Prime Minister’s Adviser Rana Sanaullah had earlier claimed the PML-N had already secured a simple majority to form the AJK government.
Bilawal reminded supporters that 11 seats remain and polling for the final phase will take place in Poonch Division’s Bagh and Haveli districts on August 10. He vowed that the PPP would hunt the lion, the electoral symbol of the PML-N, on that day and form the government in Kashmir.
Responding to remarks by Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi about the system’s collapse, Bilawal said the system has not failed on its own but has been made to fail. He stressed that the system will not work properly until the people’s sovereignty is fully recognised.
The PPP chairman used the rally to boost morale among party workers ahead of the last phase of voting and to challenge the PML-N’s confidence about forming the next administration in Azad Jammu and Kashmir. He maintained that the final outcome remains open and that his party is determined to change the political picture on August 10.
