Counting of votes underway for PoK elections

Unofficial results in Pakistan occupied Jammu and Kashmir elections show that Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has won ten seats and leading in 15 constituencies. According to media reports, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Muslim Conference and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) have so far won one seat each in Legislative Assembly elections in PoK.

The counting of votes is still underway for elections which concluded on Sunday at 5 pm. The assembly has a total of 53 members but only 45 are directly elected, while five seats are reserved for women and three are meant for the technocrats. A tough triangular competition involving Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI), Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) is expected. Several incidents of poll-related violence were reported throughout the day for the hotly contested 45 seats. The election has been marred by allegations of irregularities and violence that killed at least two workers of Prime Minister Imran Khan’s party. Voting in some polling stations of other constituencies was temporarily suspended due to incidents of violence. Several people were reportedly injured in clashes and a number of political activists were also detained by the police. Elaborate security measures have been taken and army troops deployed to maintain peace during the elections. Meanwhile, the PPP has alleged that PTI workers were using force to influence the voting process.