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Elections in Pakistan: Perspectives from Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir

In the run-up to the May 2013 elections, the political scene in Pakistan was absorbed in electoral rhetoric, active campaigning and a hectic poll process. It culminated with an expected set of results—the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) emerged victorious and took the reins of power after a decade and a half. The incumbent Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) was nearly decimated and Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) marginalised. Meanwhile, during the entire electoral process and the eventual change of guard, Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), that is, the so-called Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) and Gilgit Baltistan, remained on the political periphery, even though they have been under Pakistan’s control for more than 65 years. Deprived of a provincial status, neither region within PoK is entitled to participate in the national assembly elections of Pakistan. The only representation PoK has in the federal government is through the Ministry of Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit Baltistan (KAGB). Away from the frenzy of general elections in Pakistan, in PoK, the debate on constitutionality and political identity was re-ignited yet again. The elections posed pertinent questions on the constitutionality and political status of both parts of PoK. It somewhat accentuated the longstanding debate on the status of these regions, which until 1947 were part of the former princely state of Jammu and Kashmir (which signed the Instrument of Accession in India’s favour in October 1947). The AJK and Gilgit Baltistan have been kept as separate political entities since the signing of the Karachi Agreement in 1948. They are neither provinces of Pakistan nor independent administrative units. The AJK is currently ruled under the Interim Constitution of 1974, whereas Gilgit Baltistan has been put under the Empowerment and Self-Governance Order introduced in 2009. There is a bicameral legislature in both parts of PoK, but the popularly elected assemblies are largely inconsequential on issues of significance. In both cases, the Council, that is, the upper house, wields de facto powers and is headed by the prime minister of Pakistan. Both regions have been given a democratic visage, but a careful understanding of the governing principles shows that the system is subservient to Islamabad, and the attached sense of self-rule and autonomy is misleading and false.