The 2026 Legislative Assembly elections in Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir have once again exposed the widening gap between Islamabad’s promise of democratic self-government and the tightly controlled political system operating in the territory.

Presented as an exercise in popular representation, the elections are taking place amid boycott campaigns, allegations of ballot manipulation, communications restrictions, heavy security deployment, and deadly clashes between protesters and state forces.

A contested election with little public confidence

The election for the 45 general seats of the Legislative Assembly was divided into three phases, officially because of security concerns and the availability of military personnel for election duties. Voting was held in Mirpur Division on 27 July, followed by Muzaffarabad Division and the 12 refugee constituencies on 2 August. Poonch Division is scheduled to vote on 10 August.

In the first phase, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz secured nine of the 13 seats, while the Pakistan Peoples Party won four, according to preliminary results issued by the regional Election Commission.

However, the result emerged from an electoral environment in which one of the territory’s largest political parties, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, had withdrawn from the process altogether. PTI boycotted the election, citing concerns over electoral fraud and the wider political crisis in the territory.

The Joint Awami Action Committee, which had led months of protests over electricity tariffs, flour prices, political rights, and the controversial refugee seats, also urged its supporters to boycott the vote.

The organisation was proscribed under anti-terrorism legislation on 5 June. Several of its activists and leaders were subsequently detained, went into hiding, or continued organising from protest camps.

Some local accounts described polling stations with minimal or virtually nonexistent voter participation, even as substantial crowds assembled for protest marches and sit-ins. The extent of the reported low participation could not be independently established across all constituencies, and government officials presented a sharply different account of public turnout.

Videos and claims circulated on social media alleging late opening of polling stations, ballot stuffing, multiple voting, the use of forged identity documents, and the removal of polling agents. Political parties also accused one another of rigging, ballot-box interference, and other electoral malpractices. Many of the more specific allegations, however, remain unverified.

At the same time, some polling stations were alleged to have recorded unusually high and heavily one-sided turnout figures. Local political accounts attributed concerns over reported turnout of between 80 and 90 percent to senior PPP figures, including Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari and Raja Pervaiz Ashraf. However, a primary statement or official station-level record confirming this specific allegation could not be located.

Concerns over the election’s credibility are not confined to one opposition party or political faction. PTI, PPP, nationalist organisations, local campaigners, and civil-society groups have all, at different times, accused parties supported by Islamabad of manipulating the electoral machinery.

Low participation and diluted local........

© Khaama Press