ISLAMABAD: Former prime minister and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PMLN) supremo Nawaz Sharif, while advising Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leadership to accept defeat in the Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) elections, said on Saturday that political rivalry and differences should not be turned into enmity.
“Political rivalry is a normal happening in our environment, but such differences should not escalate to enmity,” Nawaz Sharif said while addressing grievances raised by the PPP leadership over the AJK election results.
Nawaz Sharif, along with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, was addressing the party’s successful candidates in AJK elections in Murree. Various federal ministers and Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz were also present on the occasion.
Nawaz Sharif, while regretting the reaction of PPP leadership, said he was not expecting the Pakistan Peoples Party to raise objections over the AJK elections, as the party was in power in the region. “I was not expecting them to complain and raise objections, particularly when they were in the government in Azad Jammu and Kashmir,” he said.
The PMLN president, observing that there has always been a good political atmosphere in the AJK, said the political environment that had emerged during the AJK polls was a matter of concern for all, attributing the situation to the failure of previous governments to fulfil their responsibilities.
The AJK polls, held in three phases, brought the ruling coalition partners at the Centre into a face-off, with the PMLN winning a majority of seats while PPP alleged rigging. PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari even said that the federal government’s countdown has begun. “This is the first time that this environment has been created in Azad Kashmir, which is a cause of concern for all of us,” Nawaz said. “This has happened because the previous governments did not fulfil their duty.” Nawaz Sharif pointed out that PMLN achieved almost a simple majority in the AJK Legislative Assembly after the first two phases.
At the same time, he mentioned that some of the party candidates who were very close to him could not win elections and he was severely pained by their defeat. He urged political opponents to maintain tolerance and keep differences within the bounds of democratic disagreement, stressing that hostility had no place in politics. He said PMLN had always treated its political opponents respectfully and reiterated that political differences should not turn into hostility. He said that PMLN would form the government in AJK, vowing to fulfil the promises the party made before the elections.
Nawaz also praised the party leaders and workers over the victory in the polls and said that the PMLN had secured a majority in the first two phases, adding that the election process has not yet been completed. The PMLN president also called for maximum funds to be provided to the AJK and said the welfare and development of its people should remain the government’s priority.
He said the AJK people were looking towards Punjab, where he said development had been initiated under Shehbaz Sharif and subsequently advanced by Maryam Nawaz. “The way we transformed Punjab, we will transform Azad Kashmir as well,” Nawaz said, warning that failure to deliver on the public mandate would lead to disappointment among voters.
Nawaz also asked Prime Minister Shehbaz to initiate work on the already planned connection of CPEC with the AJK. He said the Murree Expressway should be extended to the AJK, and if a railway is to be laid up to Murree, then it should also be extended to Muzaffarabad.
Addressing the meeting, Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz also regretted that the PPP leadership levelled allegations of rigging wherever their candidates lost elections. “On the other hand, PMLN leadership invited PPP leadership to form the government in Gilgit-Baltistan,” she added. She suggested that the PPP leadership, prior to levelling any allegations, should have kept in mind that it was their government, their prime minister and their police and administration in the AJK. She said PMLN won all 10 seats that were contested in the AJK Legislative Assembly elections. “I want to praise the hard work and performance of Rana Sanaullah, Dr Tariq Fazal Chaudhry, Khawaja Saad Rafique, Anusha Rehman, Marriyum Aurangzeb and others who ran a successful election campaign,” she said.
She said the people of AJK made the best decision for their better future, saying they defeated calls for shutter-down strikes and violence with the power of their votes.
“This is a humiliating defeat for miscreants who wanted to pit Pakistanis and Kashmiris against each other,” she said. She pointed out that the PMLN and its leadership have been passing through the most difficult times of any party. “They time and again regain their past glory and got back seats that were snatched from them,” she said.
Maryam Nawaz pointed out that the people of AJK reposed confidence in the PMLN leadership. “Now there is a big responsibility on us, without wasting any time, to make the best use of funds for the betterment of people and provide facilities at their doorsteps,” she said.
The Punjab chief minister mentioned that the credit for all the development and welfare projects across the country goes to Nawaz Sharif. “We have to implement our agenda of development in AJK from the very first day,” she said.
