PPP Chairman Presents AJK Agenda, Renews Truth Commission Demand, Calls for Dialogue on Unrest
PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari addresses an election rally in Kotli on Sunday ahead of the July 27 elections in Azad Jammu and Kashmir. SCREENSHOT
Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Sunday promised greater constitutional rights to Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), renewed his call for the establishment of a truth and reconciliation commission to address the recent unrest in AJK and urged the federal government to immediately restore internet services.
Addressing a public gathering in Kotli ahead of the July 27 elections in the region, Bilawal said the PPP would seek observer representation for AJK in Pakistan’s key constitutional institutions, including the Council of Common Interests (CCI), the National Finance Commission (NFC) and the National Assembly.
Presenting the PPP’s election manifesto, Bilawal said his party stood for “the right to rule, the right to property and the right to employment”, adding that AJK’s natural resources belonged to its people.
Read: Bilawal criticizes the government for punishing the entire AJK for the actions of the protesters
He said the proposal called for protesters to suspend their demonstrations while the state would suspend any action until an independent investigation completes its findings.
Calling for dialogue, Bilawal said neither protesters nor government officials had responded to the proposal and called on the federal government to restore internet services, saying ordinary citizens of AJK should not suffer from the conflict.
The PPP chairman also accused his political rivals of victimizing his party members through police cases and expressed confidence that PPP candidates would achieve victories in Kotli district.
He urged voters to give his party a stronger mandate in the upcoming elections, saying political circumstances were more favorable to the PPP than in the last polls.
Bilawal said the party had received a large number of applications from potential candidates, making the ticket distribution process difficult. However, he said he had asked the party leadership to allocate tickets only to loyal party members.
Referring to the previous AJK elections, he said the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) was in power in the region while the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) was ruling the federal government. Despite these circumstances, he claimed, the PPP had gained substantial public support and, in his view, had effectively won the elections.
Read also: Bilawal proposes truth and reconciliation commissions for AJK
He said the situation had changed since then, noting that the PPP had been in power in AJK for six months, while the federal government was led by “our friend Shehbaz Sharif”.
He said the PPP would not face the same challenges as in previous elections and called on voters to support the party in greater numbers than in recent polls.
The AJK elections on July 27, he said, will determine whether the people approve of the PPP’s vision to increase political rights and economic opportunities in the region.
