MUZAFFARABAD: Twelve people submitted their nomination papers on Thursday for eight reserved seats of the Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Legislative Assembly.

The nomination papers were submitted to AJK Election Commission Secretary Raja Mohammad Shakeel, who has been designated as the returning officer for the elections.

According to the list of validly nominated candidates issued by the returning officer, seven women — four from the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and three from the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) — are contesting the five seats reserved for women.

The PML-N candidates are Riffat Abid, Maryam Zaman, Sehrish Qamar and Maryam Idrees, while the PPP has fielded Farzana Yaqoob, Shaheen Kosar Dar and Zobia Khurshid Raja.

For the seat reserved for religious scholars, Pir Mazhar Saeed of the PML-N and Hafiz Tariq Mahmood of the PPP have submitted their nomination papers.

Similarly, Barrister Syed Iftikhar Gillani of PML-N and Sahibzada Zulfiqar Ali of PPP are contesting the seat reserved for technocrats and other professionals.

The seat reserved for overseas Kashmiris, however, saw no candidate from the PPP against PML-N nominee Chaudhry Abdul Rehman Arain, resulting in his election unopposed. Under the election schedule, appeals against the returning officer’s decisions on acceptance or rejection of nomination papers can be filed with the AJK Election Commission on Aug 21 between 9am and noon.

Chief Election Commissioner retired Justice Ghulam Mustafa Mughal will hear the appeals at his office on Aug 22 from 9am to noon. The verdicts will be announced on Aug 23 between 1pm and 2pm.

Candidates can withdraw their nomination papers until 2pm on Aug 23.

Polling through secret ballot will be held in the AJK Legislative Assembly on Aug 24 from 10am to 1pm.

Published in Dawn, August 21st, 2026