MUZAFFARABAD, Azad Jammu and Kashmir: The 12 AJK refugee seats will go to polls on August 2, despite a protest campaign seeking their abolition and a Supreme Court ruling in their favour.
The constituencies account for more than one-quarter of the Assembly’s 45 elected seats. The remaining 33 represent voters living within Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK).
The Azad Jammu and Kashmir Election Commission registered 438,546 voters in the refugee constituencies for the 2026 election. They live across Pakistan, including in Lahore, Rawalpindi and Sialkot, according to electoral-roll figures.
The banned Jammu Kashmir Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC) argues that voters outside AJK should not influence government formation in Muzaffarabad. It has urged supporters to boycott the election.
However, the AJK Supreme Court concluded in a June advisory opinion that Article 22 of the Constitution protects the constituencies.
Read: AJK Election Results: PML-N Wins 8 of 12 Declared Seats
It said only the legislature could change its status through the amendment procedure under Article 33, according to The Express Tribune.
JAAC previously proposed retaining symbolic refugee representation or replacing the 12 Assembly constituencies with four seats in the AJK Council. An all-party conference rejected both proposals on June 3.
AJK Prime Minister Faisal Mumtaz Rathore said elected Assembly members must decide the issue. Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif also urged JAAC to pursue its demands through elections rather than through street protests.
The constituencies originated in electoral arrangements introduced in 1960. Later laws and the 1974 Interim Constitution incorporated refugee representation, while the 13th Amendment reaffirmed it in 2018.
Polling began on July 27 in Mirpur division. Preliminary results gave the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) nine of 13 seats and the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) four.
The nine constituencies of Muzaffarabad division and all 12 refugee seats will vote on August 2. The final phase covers Poonch division’s 11 constituencies on August 10.
