In meeting with Gillani, PML-N leadership stresses 'immediate resolution' of AJK issues

Azad Jammu and Kashmir’s newly elected Prime Minister Barrister Syed Iftikhar Ali Gillani called on his party’s leadership in Lahore on Sunday, with the latter stressing the need for the “immediate resolution” of issues of the Kashmiri people.

The huddle included PML-N President Nawaz Sharif, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz and AJK Legislative Assembly Speaker Chaudhry Tariq Farooq, according to a post on the party’s X account.

During the meeting, Nawaz shared a “reform plan for the first 100 days” of Gillani’s tenure, the post said, adding that it was aimed at strengthening health, education, cleanliness, infrastructure and other sectors.

He instructed Gillani to set AJK on the course of development, similar to Punjab, it said.

Gillani and Farooq expressed gratitude to the party’s senior leadership for “their confidence” in him, while the latter congratulated Gillani and Farooq.

A day earlier, the AJK PM had assured the business community and students that his government would restore internet services at educational institutions and remove restrictions on road links with Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa within the next few days.

PM Gillani had also expressed concern over the situation in Rawalakot, saying his government would make every effort to bring it under control.

AJK has been gripped by protests, including in Rawalakot, staged by the now-proscribed Joint Awami Action Committee that had announced a boycott of the recently held elections in the region over its demand for abolishing 12 seats reserved in the assembly for families displaced from occupied Kashmir.

The protests have been marred by violence while AJK continues to face internet disruptions.

Against this backdrop, the elections in the region, originally scheduled for July 27, were divided into phases over security concerns amid 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, which comprises 11 constituencies, including three in Bagh, one in Haveli, five in Poonch district and two in Sudhnoti district.

However, the AJK Election Commission announced that polling would only go ahead as scheduled in Bagh and Haveli because of concerns over the law and order situation.