AJK Assembly Speaker, Deputy Speaker election to be held today: sources

MUZAFFARABAD, August 24, 2026: The election for the Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the Azad Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly will be held today, ARY News reported citing sources.

According to sources, the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) has decided to participate in the election for both positions.

PPP members of the AJK Legislative Assembly have reached Muzaffarabad, sources said.

The Prime Minister of Azad Kashmir will host a breakfast for the PPP parliamentary party at 9am, according to sources.

Sources said the candidates for the Speaker and Deputy Speaker positions will be announced during the breakfast event.

The PPP AJK president will announce the names of the candidates for Speaker and Deputy Speaker, sources said.

Consultations with the PPP leadership over the candidates for both positions have already been completed, according to sources.

Earlier, the Election Commission had released details of the reserved seats in the Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Legislative Assembly.

According to reports, a total of seven candidates had filed nomination papers for five reserved seats for women, according to the Election Commission.

Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) candidate Shaheen Kausar Dar has withdrawn her nomination papers.

The PML-N candidates for the women’s reserved seats are Rifat Abid, Maryam Idrees, Maryam Zaman and Sehrish Qamar, while PPP’s Zobia Khursheed is also contesting the reserved seat.

For the one reserved seat for Ulema and Mashaikh, Hafiz Tariq Mahmood and Muhammad Mazhar Saeed are competing against each other.

For the one reserved seat for technocrats and professionals, Iftikhar Gilani and Sahibzada Zulfiqar are contesting, according to the spokesperson.

Only one candidate’s nomination papers were approved for the reserved seat for overseas Kashmiris. The Election Commission said the overseas Kashmiris’ seat has already been filled unopposed.

Polling for the reserved seats will be held tomorrow from 10am to 1pm in the Assembly Hall, the Election Commission said.

Earlier, newly elected Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Legislative Assembly member from LA-14 Bagh-West (Dhirkot), Sardar Sajid Iqbal Abbasi, has decided to join the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N).

Abbasi, who contested the election from LA-14 Bagh-I (Dhirkot) on the Awami Dast-o-Bazoo Party ticket, is expected to formally announce his decision to join the PML-N today.

The development is being seen as another political gain for the PML-N following the AJK elections.

Abbasi defeated Muslim Conference president Sardar Attique Ahmed Khan, a constituency from where he, and before him his uncle and father, had been elected in all nine elections since 1985.

The notification confirming Sajid Iqbal Abbasi’s election from LA-14 Bagh-I (Dhirkot) has also been issued.