MUZAFFARABAD: The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) has directed all aspirants seeking party tickets for the upcoming Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Legislative Assembly elections to appear before its parliamentary board for interviews in Islamabad on Saturday.

According to Syed Azzadar Hussain Shah, political adviser to AJK Prime Minister Faisal Mumtaz Rathore, the meeting of the parliamentary board will be held at 2pm at Zardari House and all applicants have been instructed to ensure punctuality.

The PPP had constituted a 10-member parliamentary board on May 14 to scrutinise applications and recommend candidates for party tickets.

The initially constituted board comprised PPP’s AJK affairs in-charge Faryal Talpur, AJK chapter president Chaudhry Muhammad Yasin, party secretary general and AJK Prime Minister Faisal Mumtaz Rathore, Legislative Assembly Speaker Chaudhry Latif Akbar, Senior Minister Mian Abdul Waheed, former AJK president Sardar Muhammad Yaqoob Khan, former prime minister Sardar Tanveer Ilyas, former ministers Sardar Qamaruz Zaman and Chaudhry Pervaiz Ashraf, and party leader Chaudhry Riaz, who assists Ms Talpur in AJK affairs.

However, late on Wednesday night, the party expanded the board by inducting seven senior PPP leaders from across the country, raising its strength to 17 members.

The new members included central secretary general Syed Nayyar Hussain Bukhari, Muhammad Humayun Khan, former prime minister Raja Pervez Ashraf, Makhdoom Syed Ahmed Mahmood, Nisar Ahmed Khuhro, Sardar Muhammad Umar Gorjani and Syed Muhammad Ali Shah Bacha.

Mr Shah said PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari had diversified the parliamentary board to ensure that the selection of candidates reflected the collective wisdom of the party’s senior leadership. “The chairman is personally monitoring preparations for the elections and wants the ticket-awarding process to be transparent, consultative and merit-based. Every applicant will be given a fair hearing before the board takes its decisions,” he said.

He expressed confidence that the PPP would perform strongly in the elections. “The enthusiasm among party workers and the public response we are receiving indicate that the PPP is well placed to make significant gains in Azad Jammu and Kashmir on the pattern of Gilgit-Baltistan. We are hopeful of securing a decisive mandate,” he said.

Published in Dawn, June 26th, 2026