MUZAFFARABAD:
PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Friday proposed greater constitutional power for Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), including representation in key institutions such as the National Finance Commission (NFC), the Council of Common Interests (CCI) and the federal cabinet.
Bilawal officially launched the party’s election campaign for the upcoming AJK general elections at a public rally in Dadyal in support of PPP candidate Afsar Shahid for LA-1 Dadyal. He urged voters to elect the PPP to represent the voice of Kashmir at the regional, national and international levels.
Outlining the PPP’s constitutional agenda, Bilawal reiterated the party’s slogan “right to rule, right to property and right to employment”, saying these principles would remain at the heart of its agenda for AJK and Gilgit-Baltistan (GB).
He announced that the PPP would convene constitutional conventions in the two regions after the elections to seek stakeholder views on future constitutional and legislative reforms. “Azad Kashmir should have stronger representation in national institutions including the NFC and the ICC,” he said.
He further proposed that AJK would eventually have its own foreign minister to represent the territory in the federal cabinet. “The political leadership of Kashmir should serve as a bridge between the people, Islamabad and the international community,” he added.
Terming the upcoming elections “the most important in the history of AJK”, Bilawal said the polls provide an opportunity for the people of AJK to entrust the PPP with representing their aspirations. “The legacy of PPP founders Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Benazir Bhutto was rooted in solidarity with the oppressed.” Referring to the situation prevailing in AJK due to protests by the banned Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC), Bilawal reiterated his proposal for setting up a ‘Truth and Reconciliation Commission’ to address the grievances of all stakeholders.
He said he responded to a letter from protesters, suggesting that once the commission is established, they should end their sit-in while the state should suspend enforcement measures until it has completed its work. He added that neither the protesters nor the authorities had responded to his proposal.
He said the situation prevailing in the region constituted a critical test for political leadership. “When political crises erupt, apolitical and extremist elements exploit the vacuum,” Bilawal said, wondering what alternative would remain if dialogue was rejected.
