Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) on Wednesday formally issued party tickets to seven candidates for reserved seats in the Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Legislative Assembly, with party supremo Nawaz Sharif personally signing the nomination letters, giving the process a final stamp of approval as part of efforts to form the new government in AJK.

The move has accelerated the electoral process for the eight reserved seats of the AJK Legislative Assembly, with the Election Commission set to complete the remaining formalities ahead of polling scheduled for August 24.

Nawaz, who had personally interviewed women aspirants in Murree along with Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz, approved the party’s nominees and signed their tickets. For the four reserved seats for women, the PML-N nominated Maryam Zaman, Maryam Idrees, Sehrish Qamar and Riffat Abid.

Abdul Rehman Arain has been awarded the party ticket for the reserved seat for Kashmiris living overseas while Syed Iftikhar Ali Gilani would contest the technocrat seat. Maulana Mazhar Saeed has been nominated for the seat reserved for Ulema and Mashaikh.

The PML-N’s nominations come at a crucial stage in the formation of the new AJK government. The party emerged as the single largest parliamentary party in the recently concluded general elections, winning 25 of the 45 directly elected seats while the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) secured 12 seats.

Read: Nawaz interviews aspirants for AJK reserved seats

Under the Election Commission schedule, candidates for the reserved seats would file their nomination papers on August 20, while the final list of candidates would be published on August 23. Polling for the eight seats would be held on August 24 at the AJK Legislative Assembly.

The reserved seats are expected to further strengthen the PML-N’s position in the Assembly. After securing the reserved seats expected to be allocated to the party, including women, technocrats, Ulema and Mashaikh and overseas Kashmiris seats and with the support of elected Awami Dast-e-Bazu member Sajid Iqbal Abbasi, the PML-N’s strength in the House is projected to reach 32.

Read More: PML-N’s position in AJK further strengthens

The PPP, meanwhile, is expected to secure two reserved seats for women, taking its projected strength to 14.

With the reserved-seat stage now underway, the PML-N is moving closer to securing a comfortable majority in the 53-member AJK Legislative Assembly, paving the way for the formation of the next government in the territory.