Bilawal Bhutto Terms AJK Polls Most Important Election, Urges Voters to Shape Future

Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said the upcoming Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) elections would be among the most significant in the region’s history, urging voters to make a decision that would secure a brighter future. Addressing a public rally in Mirpur, he said the PPP had maintained a three-generation relationship with the people of Mirpur and described the city as his “second home.” He called on supporters to carry forward the political legacy of their predecessors and strengthen democratic institutions.

Bilawal said the people of Kashmir should determine their own future, adding that decisions regarding the region must be made by Kashmiris themselves rather than by provinces elsewhere in Pakistan. Highlighting the PPP’s political legacy, he said former Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto had given Pakistan its unanimous Constitution, while President Asif Ali Zardari completed Benazir Bhutto’s unfinished mission through the 18th Constitutional Amendment. He pledged to pursue constitutional reforms if his party secured a two-thirds majority and reiterated that the PPP represents the middle class and provides employment opportunities for young people.

The PPP chairman also called for the formation of an independent commission to investigate disputes between the federal government and protesters, saying such a body should establish the truth and determine accountability where necessary. He argued that differences of opinion strengthen rather than weaken nations and urged all sides not to allow political disagreements to harm the people of Azad Kashmir. Bilawal also criticized the leadership of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) for not condemning what he described as inappropriate remarks made by a federal minister at a recent public gathering, while stressing the need to improve the political environment instead of deepening divisions.