Imran Khan's PTI backs Taliban terrorist for PoK seat, Bilawal Bhutto slams nomination

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) is backing a former Taliban terrorist for a seat in the PoK assembly, Pakistan People's Party (PPP) leader Bilawal Bhutto Zardari alleged on Sunday. Addressing a press conference, the PPP Chairman said that nominating a Taliban terrorist from PoK sent the 'wrong message' abroad, and demanded that the candidate be refrained from entering politics in the region.  

According to news reports, PTI is fielding former head of Afghanistan Taliban- Mazhar Shah Saeed- for the reserved seat of Ulema-e-Mashaikh. Saeed alias Abdullah Shah Mazhar filed a nomination along with PTI's POK secretary-general Abdul Majeed Khan on the party's ticket on July 30.

“I want to bring it to your notice that (Imran) Khan Sahib has nominated a former office-bearer of the TTP for a reserved seat of Ulema in AJK (Assembly). We condemn it,” Dawn News quoted the PPP chairman as saying.

“We demand that such people should not be brought into politics. We will contest them in this election and the process. But (Imran) Khan Sahib should think about it as to what message he is sending (abroad). The people of Azad Kashmir are peace-loving people and they believe in peaceful resistance. And you are presenting them before the world as terrorists and the PPP condemns it,” he added.

Apart from raising objections on the nomination of Mazhar Shah Saeed, Bilawal Bhutto also lashed out at Imran Khan for making a mockery of the election process in PoK and rigging the polls at every platform. "Elections in the history of Azad Kashmir have not been rigged as much as this time, and we will expose this incompetent rigging on every platform. It is Pakistan's failure that we could not conduct free and fair elections," he said. 

Only 45 members are directly elected out of a 53-member PoK assembly. Polling for the election against 8 reserved seats is scheduled to be held on August 3.

Outrage over PoK polls

Imran Khan's PTI won the elections bagging 25 out of the 45 seats that went to the polls. The Pakistan People's Party (PPP)  has won 11 seats, the incumbent Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) 6 seats, and two regional parties, 1 seat each in the polls. After the results were announced, a large number of citizens from PoK gathered to protest against the Pakistan Army accusing them of interfering in the election process and rigging the results in favor of PTI.

Apart from the citizens of PoK, the election verdict in favor of Imran Khan has also been rejected by the Opposition. Several parties such as Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan People's Party (PPP) have claimed that the process was 'rigged'.