AJK Elections Set for July 27 as Campaigns Remain Slow Amid JAAC Agitation and Public Backlash

Muzaffarabad, July 4, 2026: Azad Jammu and Kashmir is scheduled to go to the polls on July 27, but election campaigning across the region has yet to fully take off as the political atmosphere remains tense amid the ongoing Joint Awami Action Committee agitation, sit-in calls and a fresh appeal for a march towards Muzaffarabad on July 5.

The Azad Jammu and Kashmir Election Commission announced that polling for the 45 direct seats of the Legislative Assembly would be held on July 27 from 8am to 5pm. The final list of contesting candidates was to be published on July 1, while election symbols were to be allotted on July 2. The commission has also said the polls will be held under the supervision of the army, paramilitary and civil armed forces.

However, despite the formal election schedule, the campaign environment remains subdued and uncertain. In several constituencies, candidates associated with Pakistan-based political parties are facing anger, criticism and protest, particularly on social media and in local gatherings. Many citizens are linking the elections with the unresolved JAAC crisis, the recent crackdown, the issue of 12 refugee seats and long-standing demands over electricity prices, flour subsidies and local rights.

The situation has become more sensitive after JAAC leaders and supporters called for demonstrations and a march towards Muzaffarabad on July 5. A senior JAAC representative, Sardar Aman Khan, appealed to people across Jammu, Kashmir, Ladakh, Poonch, Rajouri, Gilgit-Baltistan and the Kashmiri diaspora to support the July 5 protest against what he described as repression and denial of basic rights in Pakistan-administered Kashmir.

The latest call comes after weeks of unrest in which JAAC’s protest movement was met with a heavy government response. Reuters reported that cities and towns across Pakistan-administered Kashmir were brought to a standstill after JAAC called a general strike over the reservation of 12 seats for refugees in the July 27 Legislative Assembly elections. The report said at least 11 people were killed in clashes in Rawalakot, after which authorities ordered sedition cases against prominent JAAC leaders and announced a reward for their arrest.

The AJK government has banned JAAC and said the group’s activities created a law-and-order crisis, while JAAC supporters argue that the movement represents public anger over economic hardship, political representation and administrative control. Dawn reported that, ahead of the July 27 elections, JAAC had called widespread protests demanding the abolition of 12 seats reserved for refugees from occupied Kashmir settled in Pakistan.

Against this backdrop, mainstream parties have begun issuing tickets, but public campaigning remains under pressure. The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz has fielded party president Shah Ghulam Qadir from both constituencies of Neelum Valley and former prime minister Raja Farooq Haider Khan from LA-32 Muzaffarabad-VI.

In Neelum Valley, Shah Ghulam Qadir has become one of the most visible examples of the backlash facing candidates linked to Pakistan-based parties. Qadir alleged at a press conference in Muzaffarabad that PPP workers attacked him “in the guise” of the proscribed JAAC. He claimed the Neelum Valley administration had failed to perform its duties and said stone-pelting took place while he was sitting at a local site in Kutten. He also alleged that one shot was fired during the incident.

Local political workers and social media pages have claimed that Qadir faced resistance more than once during campaign activity in Neelum Valley, including stone-pelting and obstruction. However, independent confirmation of two separate physical attacks remains limited. The confirmed public record so far clearly supports at least one reported stone-pelting incident and Qadir’s own allegation of an organised attack.

In Jhelum Valley, former AJK prime minister Raja Farooq Haider Khan has also faced criticism and political backlash. Local reports and social media posts have referred to protests against him, particularly over his position on the refugee seats issue and his association with PML-N politics. Haider has publicly opposed moves to abolish the 12 refugee seats, warning Islamabad against undermining AJK’s constitutional framework.

The backlash shows that the July 27 elections are taking place in an atmosphere shaped not only by party competition but also by a wider public confrontation over rights, representation and state response to protest. For many voters, the question is no longer only which party will form the next government, but whether the existing political system can address local grievances without repeated crackdowns and violence.

The Pakistan Peoples Party has also moved to strengthen its position before the polls, forming an electoral alliance with Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam. PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari has said political disputes should be settled through democratic institutions rather than unrest on the streets. But the continuing JAAC sit-in campaign and the July 5 Muzaffarabad march call suggest that street politics will remain central to the election environment.

With polling less than a month away, the administration faces two parallel challenges: conducting elections on schedule and preventing another escalation around JAAC’s protest campaign. Political parties, meanwhile, are struggling to hold normal campaign activity in a region where anger over recent deaths, arrests, internet shutdowns and the refugee seats dispute has reshaped the public mood.

Unless the government, mainstream parties and JAAC representatives move towards dialogue, the July 27 elections may be held under one of the most tense and uncertain political climates AJK has witnessed in recent years.