Pakistan: Voting Underway in Final Phase of Kashmir Elections Amid Unrest

Voting is under way in the third and final phase of Pakistan-administered Kashmir's Legislative Assembly elections, but only four of 11 scheduled constituencies are going to the polls due to unrest. Polling booths in Bagh and Haveli districts of Poonch division in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) opened at 8am (03:00 GMT) Monday and will close about 5pm (12:00 GMT), with about 460,000 people registered to vote. AJK Prime Minister Faisal Mumtaz Rathore of the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) is defending his seat in Haveli, while two former prime ministers — Sardar Tanveer Ilyas of the Istehkam-e-Pakistan Party and Sardar Attique Ahmed Khan of the Muslim Conference — are contesting in Bagh.

Elections in the remaining seven constituencies, five in Poonch and two in Sudhnoti district, were postponed last week over security concerns; officials said a new polling date will be announced soon. The postponement followed weeks of protests by the Jammu Kashmir Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC), a local pressure group demanding the abolition of 12 seats reserved for displaced Kashmiris living elsewhere in Pakistan.