THE PML-N has secured a resounding victory in Thursday’s elections for the Azad Jammu & Kashmir Legislative Assembly, and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was in Muzaffarabad yesterday to celebrate.
While AJK usually votes for the party in power in Islamabad, this time round the N-League’s victory has been emphatic, with the PPP — which led the outgoing administration — and PTI trounced in most constituencies.
Campaigning saw nasty verbal exchanges between the leading contenders, as well as violence, with at least two deaths, though election day itself was largely peaceful. Local observers have said polling was, by and large, transparent and secure.
The campaign saw PPP chief Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari take a leading role, but it seems the PML-N’s incumbency in Islamabad helped carry the day in Muzaffarabad.
Now that the PML-N has secured a ‘heavy mandate’ in AJK — perhaps even beyond its own expectations — the real test of governance will begin.
Among its leading challenges will be running a lean government, especially controlling the size of the cabinet to ensure it does not get too large and unwieldy, and introducing much-discussed austerity measures in government departments.
As it stands, many of AJK’s major problems are economic, and the ruling party will need to deftly handle these over the next five years.
For one, the new government will have to tackle unemployment, which is considerable in the region, head on. Most locals depend on government jobs, so job creation, especially in the private sector, will be a major challenge for the incoming administration.
There will also be a need for greater emphasis on good governance; for instance, under the watch of earlier governments, many Kashmiris complained that those who were supposed to be running AJK’s affairs were more often than not found in Islamabad rather than Muzaffarabad.
This attitude will need to change and the new administration should dedicate itself to solving local problems.
Moreover, progress will have to be made on initiating constitutional change so that more power is shifted from the AJK Council, which takes its cue from Islamabad, to the elected government in Muzaffarabad. Such demands have been made in the AJK legislature, based on the process of devolution initiated in Pakistan under the 18th Amendment.
And the administration in Muzaffarabad must take the lead in promoting the cause of the Kashmiri people across the LoC at global forums; AJK needs to raise its voice against Indian atrocities in India held-Kashmir.
Published in Dawn, July 23rd, 2016