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Pakistan minister urges AJK voters to decide fate of refugee seats
🇵🇰 Pakistan /Elections & Politics

Pakistan minister urges AJK voters to decide fate of refugee seats

From Dawn · () English

Translated from English, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

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  • Pakistan's Defence Minister Khawaja Asif urged the Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC) to let voters in Azad Jammu and Kashmir decide the fate of 12 refugee seats.
  • The JAAC and regional administration are in dispute over these seats, which are reserved for refugees from Indian-occupied Jammu and Kashmir.
  • Asif suggested the JAAC raise the issue during the upcoming July 27 elections and present it to the public.

Defence Minister Khawaja Asif has called on the Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC) to allow the people of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) to decide whether 12 seats in the region's Legislative Assembly should be abolished. These seats are currently reserved for refugees from Indian-occupied Jammu and Kashmir who settled in mainland Pakistan after 1947.

The JAAC and the AJK administration remain at odds over several issues, with the abolition of these refugee seats being a prominent point of contention. Asif, speaking in the National Assembly, urged the JAAC to bring the matter to the public during the upcoming elections scheduled for July 27.

raise the issue in the upcoming elections, scheduled for July 27, and “take the issue to the public”.

— Khawaja AsifDefence Minister Khawaja Asif speaking on the floor of the National Assembly.

He questioned the committee's desire to pre-emptively decide the issue, suggesting that their aim might be to influence the assembly's composition before the vote. Asif encouraged the JAAC to let the electoral process determine the future of these seats.

take the issue to the public

— Khawaja AsifDefence Minister Khawaja Asif urging the JAAC to let voters decide on refugee seats.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Dawn in English. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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