A Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leader on Wednesday criticised the Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Election Commission, saying that it was “equally responsible for facilitating rigging” during the first phase of the AJK elections in Mirpur Division.

Addressing a press conference in Lahore, PPP Central Punjab General Secretary Hassan Murtaza alleged that polling stations were attacked, polling agents were prevented from entering polling stations and an atmosphere of fear and harassment was created during the election process.

Criticising the AJK Election Commission, he said, “The AJK Election Commission had played the role of the Punjab Crime Control Department (CCD). The AJK Election Commission used to decide who should be half fried, who should be full fried. Whose polling agents should be picked up. Whose polling stations should be turned into garbage.”

Murtaza added, “We kept screaming and shouting that this is happening. Do not facilitate this. You have facilitated it. You are equally responsible for this.”

Questioning the commission’s handling of the election, he said, “If you cannot provide security in a division… how can we believe that you can maintain transparency in a division like Punjab?”

He said the party repeatedly informed the AJK Election Commission of alleged violations, saying, “We kept telling you that buses are going. Violations are taking place. The code of conduct is being violated. You will not be able to hear anything. When the entire social media caught your transparency, you understood and took notice of it. You got a notice. What is the benefit of that notice?”

Murtaza also criticised the Punjab government’s governance, alleging failures in healthcare, education, flood management, infrastructure and agriculture. He claimed recent rainfall had inundated settlements in parts of Punjab, causing damage to crops and infrastructure, and alleged that inadequate maintenance of a dam had contributed to flooding.

He also criticised the government’s economic policies, alleging that decisions relating to power generation, agriculture and wheat procurement had harmed farmers and increased costs for consumers.

Murtaza said the party’s politics focused on public issues rather than personal attacks.

Sharjeel Memon demands re-election in three constituencies of AJK

Sindh Information Minister Sharjeel Memon demanded re-election in three constituencies and said that in one of the constituencies of AJK, 110 per cent of the votes had been cast.

“I urge the election commission to take notice of the incident”, said Sharjeel while speaking at a presser in Islamabad.

Referring to PML-N leader Khawaja Saad Rafique, Memon said he had spoken about the deceased leadership of the PPP, which was “below the moral threshold”.

He said Defence Minister Khawaja Asif had spoken about Kashmiris and insulted them. “This will not be tolerated.”

Memon claimed that Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz came to power through Form 47 on a “fake mandate”.

“Nawaz Sharif and Maryam Nawaz came into power through the back door. The mandate belonged to someone else, and the PML-N usurped that mandate,” he added.

Referring to Maryam’s post on X, he said that, considering the current situation in the country, she should have weighed her words before speaking.

Memon said she did not understand the responsibilities of holding powerful public office or care about the public because she had not been elected by the people.

The minister said that the Sindh Assembly had members who speak Sindhi, Pashto, Balochi, Urdu and Punjabi.

Memon added that even in Larkana, the ancestral city of the President Asif Zardari family, a Punjabi-speaking lawmaker had been elected as an MPA.

He said that Sindh led the country in the health sector and challenged anyone to disagree.

Referring to the National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases (NICVD), the Sindh Institute of Urology and Transplantation (SIUT), the Children’s Hospital and Gambat Hospital, he said that they treated patients from all provinces.

“We acknowledge the challenges in Karachi; Karachi is not a city; it is a country.” He said the city attracted people from across Pakistan because of the opportunities it offered.

Memon said that the people of Sindh had rejected the dictatorial approach of the PML-N.

He claimed Maryam Nawaz’s administration had tortured a journalist for posting on X about her slip of the tongue, saying that “an FIR was registered against the journalist and that the television channel was asked to apologise to secure the journalist’s release.”

Memon claimed the Punjab government prevented media coverage of urban flooding by threatening to withhold government advertisements. “Maryam Nawaz never allowed journalists to ask questions after press conferences, which, according to him, was a sign of dictatorship,” he added.

He contended that she had not held a single press conference during the past two years and instead only shared recorded messages.

Memon said Maryam avoided press conferences because she feared difficult questions from journalists and further alleged that if a journalist managed to ask a difficult question, punitive action was threatened under the PECA Act.

The senior minister Sindh said there was freedom of the press in Sindh and that the Sindh chief minister regularly held press conferences to answer questions from journalists.

He called on the Punjab government to close all courts, alleging that law enforcement agencies were deciding people’s fate through extrajudicial means. “They kill on mere whims and stage encounters,” he added.

Memon alleged that the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) had been given a free hand to kill people and claimed such lawlessness could later result in the execution of political opponents.

He described the Punjab government as “fascist”.

Memon alleged that the PML-N had always come to power through rigging rather than the ballot.

He said the PPP had leaders it could be proud of and contrasted them with PML-N leaders who, according to him, “take deals, pack their bags and run away from the country as soon as calamity strikes”.

“Can they ask the Kashmiris to vote for such leaders? Our leaders laid down their lives for the people and kissed the noose as a display of solidarity with the people. They stayed in jail for 12 years to uphold the party’s political manifesto,” he said.

Highlighting the PPP’s achievements, he said the party had given the country its Constitution, the “atomic bomb” and “missile technology”.

“Count the votes of the PPP over time; they have increased over the years,” said Memon.

He said Sindh was denied its due share of water and had to ration supplies to help farmers survive.

Memon claimed all roads under the Sindh government’s administration were in good condition.

He said the PPP had initiated the Thar coal project to help the country generate electricity, but claimed it was shelved by Nawaz.

Memon said Sindh had state-of-the-art hospitals for special children, which the federal government sought to replicate.

Punjab Information Minister Azma Bukhari defended the Punjab government’s performance, contrasting it with the PPP governance in Sindh while responding to Bilawal Bhutto Zardari’s criticism during the AJK election campaign.

Addressing a press conference, Azma questioned the PPP’s record in Sindh, asking why Karachi continued to face issues including the water tanker mafia, inadequate public transport and poor waste management despite years of PPP rule.

She compared what she described as “Maryam’s Punjab” with “Bilawal’s Sindh”, highlighting Punjab’s Green Bus service, road infrastructure, Schools of Eminence, Honhaar Scholarships, laptop distribution, urban flood management, air ambulance service, school meal programme and development projects in southern Punjab.

Azma also questioned claims that Rs1.7 trillion had been spent on Karachi, citing what she described as higher crime rates in the city than Lahore, and argued that Punjab’s governance model had become a benchmark for other provinces. She said the PML-N would seek public support on the basis of its performance.