The PTI also cited arrests of political workers and restrictions on media coverage.
ISLAMABAD:
PTI Chairman Gohar Ali Khan on Monday said the party may reconsider its decision to boycott the upcoming Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Legislative Assembly elections if it is given a level playing field and its leaders and workers are not subjected to arrests or crackdowns.
Speaking to reporters, Gohar said the boycott decision was taken after consultations with the party’s parliamentary wing, its allies and the PTI leadership in AJK. He said the absence of a free political environment had left the party with no other option.
“PTI was forced to boycott the AJK elections, but in politics nothing is final. If we have a free and conducive environment, we can reconsider the boycott decision,” he said.
He said the PTI believed in democracy and described the boycott as a difficult decision, adding that the party could return to the electoral process if its leaders and workers were spared arrests and repression.
The remarks come four days after the PTI officially announced that it would not contest the AJK Legislative Assembly elections scheduled for July 27.
The party’s regional chairman and former AJK prime minister Sardar Abdul Qayyum Niazi said the decision was taken in solidarity with the people of the region amid what the party described as a worsening political and humanitarian crisis and was “not a political strategy”.
The boycott follows weeks of unrest in AJK after the government banned the Awami Joint Action Committee (Jaac) under anti-terrorism legislation.
Jaac continued its protests despite the ban, while clashes between protesters and security forces left several people dead, with authorities and the group giving different versions of the number of casualties.
The PTI also cited arrests of political workers, restrictions on media coverage and disruption of supply lines from Punjab as reasons why the upcoming elections cannot be considered credible in the current circumstances.
The party has suspended all recommendations regarding ticket distribution for its AJK candidates pending a review of the situation.
Meanwhile, the legal status of the PTI in AJK also remains unresolved. The AJK High Court had earlier reinstated the party’s registration and ordered the reinstatement of its election symbol, the bat, after the AJK Election Commission decided to revoke it.
The Election Commission then challenged the High Court order in the AJK High Court, which on July 3 postponed the hearing of the case. With the court’s summer recess continuing until October 7, the case is unlikely to be decided before Election Day.
