Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and President Asif Ali Zardari mentioned the current Gilgit-Baltistan (G-B) elections and the restive scenario in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) in a gathering on Monday.
In accordance with an announcement issued by the President’s Home, the 2 leaders additionally mentioned nationwide safety, the financial system, the upcoming federal funds and the regional scenario.
“The discussions additionally coated the current G-B elections, the regulation and order scenario in AJK, and different issues of nationwide significance,” the assertion mentioned.
The assertion added that, whereas discussing funds proposals and public aid measures, President Zardari careworn the necessity to prioritise public welfare, provincial rights and financial stability within the upcoming federal funds.
“The president directed that full efforts be made to align the expansion charge and public welfare schemes within the upcoming funds,” it mentioned.
In the course of the assembly, Inside Minister Mohsin Naqvi briefed the president on his current go to to Iran and the newest regional diplomatic engagements.
صدرِ مملکت آصف علی زرداری سے وزیرِ اعظم محمد شہباز شریف کی ایوانِ صدر میں ملاقات۔
نائب وزیرِ اعظم و وزیرِ خارجہ اسحاق ڈار، وزیرِ داخلہ محسن نقوی، وزیرِ قانون اعظم نذیر تارڑ، وزیر خزانہ محمد اورنگزیب اور وزیرِ اعظم کے مشیر برائے سیاسی امور رانا ثناء اللّہ ملاقات میں موجود۔… pic.twitter.com/5yC3TOQcYC
— The President of Pakistan (@PresOfPakistan) June 8, 2026
Deputy PM and International Minister Ishaq Dar, Regulation Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar, Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb and the Prime Minister’s Adviser on Political Affairs Rana Sanaullah attended the assembly.
Pakistan Folks’s Occasion Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, AJK Prime Minister Raja Faisal Rathore and different political leaders had been additionally current.
Following the assembly, AJK PM Rathore mentioned detailed deliberations had been held over the prevailing scenario within the territory.
He acknowledged that the Joint Awami Motion Committee’s (JAAC) “grievances towards 12 refugee seats usually are not solely unfair”.
He added: “The matter of refugee seats ought to be resolved, but it ought to’ve been managed otherwise with an end result that might be acceptable to everybody. All that was required of them was to indicate persistence and suppleness, the 2 currencies they’re by no means prepared to spend. It at all times turned regular situations into cliffhangers. And so as we speak we’re free-falling. How will we recompense the households of safety personnel who misplaced their lives within the line of responsibility?
“All mentioned and performed, I might as soon as once more request leaders of the protesters to dial down their offensive method, put a pause on their fixed ultimatums, come again to the negotiating desk and hearken to motive. I am positive it is one of the simplest ways for everybody concerned to realize their desired goals. We should sit and discuss the way forward for all refugee seats. If you happen to agree, I am going to assure your security, safety, free motion and a level-playing subject throughout and after the negotiations.”
Sure parts trying to disrupt electoral, political course of in AJK
Whereas speaking to a non-public information channel programme, Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Tariq Fazal Chaudhry mentioned that nobody may elevate any questions over the transparency of the Gilgit-Baltistan (G-B) elections, including that the Pakistan Peoples Occasion (PPP) had emerged victorious and deserved congratulations.
Talking concerning the formation of the federal government in G-B, Chaudhry mentioned the PPP would require assist to type an administration, and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) would resolve later whether or not to affix the federal government or sit within the opposition.
“The PML-N management in G-B will make that call, and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif will endorse it,” he mentioned.
Referring to the upcoming elections in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), Chaudhry mentioned they’d even be carried out in a clear method. Nevertheless, he alleged that sure parts had been trying to disrupt the electoral and political course of.
“These powers attempting to cease the elections and sabotage the democratic course of should be reined in,” he mentioned.
Chaudhry added that no political celebration may or ought to get rid of one other celebration from the political system.
“We don’t need any political celebration to be worn out,” he mentioned, noting that PTI leaders had campaigned freely in G-B and that “everyone seems to be saying the elections had been free and truthful.”
He mentioned the PML-N had accepted the PPP’s victory within the area.
Commenting on the scenario in AJK, Chaudhry mentioned peaceable protest was a democratic proper and had been allowed. Nevertheless, he alleged that some parts had turned the demonstration into unrest.
“The federal government had requested that the protest be postponed, however the JAAC refused. What adopted was not a peaceable protest however riots,” he mentioned.
He additionally criticised what he described as misinformation circulating on social media, saying the Kashmir challenge shouldn’t be politicised.
“This can be a conspiracy, and we have to cease it,” Chaudhry mentioned.
The assembly got here within the wake of lethal clashes in AJK’s Rawalakot, the place the newly proscribed JAAC had been holding a sit-in exterior the Mixed Army Hospital Rawalakot. AJK police allege that armed JAAC members opened hearth on deployed regulation enforcement in a deliberate assault, leaving 4 personnel lifeless and round 20 injured. JAAC, nonetheless, disputes this account, claiming safety forces used tear gasoline and fired shells towards the hospital.
In accordance with the AJK police, three people linked to the JAAC and 4 regulation enforcement personnel had been killed throughout the protests on Sunday. JAAC, nonetheless, mentioned in an announcement on X that seven people had been killed and dozens had been injured when avenue firing was carried out at the hours of darkness after electrical energy was allegedly reduce off.
The conflict on Sunday got here because the AJK authorities and the JAAC witnessed a face-off, because the election date for AJK was introduced for July 27.
AJK’s 53-member legislative meeting contains 12 seats reserved for Kashmiri refugees — individuals who fled Indian-controlled Kashmir in 1947 and 1965 and at the moment are scattered throughout Pakistan. Six seats characterize refugees from the Jammu division (~434,000 folks) and 6 from the Kashmir Valley (~30,000 folks) — an already lopsided association that many see as unfair.
The area witnessed one among its most turbulent durations in October final 12 months when protests led by the JAAC erupted over calls for for constitutional and governance reforms. At the least 9 folks, together with three policemen, had been killed throughout the unrest.
The JAAC, which organised the protests and strike, had introduced a wide-ranging constitution of calls for, together with an finish to the privileges loved by the ruling elite, the abolition of 12 meeting seats reserved for refugees, and the scrapping of the quota system.
Two days after the violence, the federal government and the JAAC reached an settlement protecting 12 core and 13 further factors. Underneath the accord, each side agreed to represent a high-level committee to look at the difficulty of refugee seats within the AJK Legislative Meeting.
Learn Extra: 4 police personnel martyred, over 20 injured in Rawalakot firing: AJK police
The unrest additionally triggered political upheaval within the area. The PPP subsequently moved a no-confidence decision towards then prime minister Chaudhry Anwarul Haq, with the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz becoming a member of the trouble. Haq, who had been elected in April 2023 with 48 votes, selected to face the vote somewhat than resign.
On Nov 17, Rathore secured 36 votes within the election and have become the sixteenth prime minister of Azad Jammu and Kashmir.
With elections now approaching and the refugee seat challenge nonetheless unresolved, the AJK authorities convened an All Events Convention (APC) in Muzaffarabad to construct consensus. Nearly each main celebration attended — besides PTI and the JAAC, who boycotted it.
The JAAC’s place is that the federal government had already rejected its written proposals submitted on Could 30, so attending can be futile. It had proposed both maintaining symbolic refugee illustration till the Kashmir dispute is completely resolved, or changing the 12 meeting seats with 4 seats within the AJK Council — a physique chaired by the Prime Minister, which it argued would higher protect the political dimension of the Kashmir trigger.
The APC rejected any adjustments exterior the constitutional and legislative framework, saying solely the elected meeting may alter refugee seat preparations. The JAAC known as the decision “a web page and a half of completely trivial strains” and accused individuals of gathering to serve their very own pursuits somewhat than the general public’s.
The JAAC known as a serious protest for June 9 in Muzaffarabad, with caravans converging from throughout the area.
Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Dr Tariq Fazal Chaudhry on Sunday rejected claims that the settlement with the JAAC had remained unimplemented, and mentioned the federal government had fulfilled the overwhelming majority of its commitments in AJK.
