Pakistan's ruling party takes lead in Kashmir assembly elections

ISLAMABAD — Pakistan's ruling party has taken a commanding lead in elections for the legislative assembly in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, results from the first two phases of voting showed on Wednesday, despite weeks of protests and calls for a boycott by a banned political group.

Candidates backed by twice-elected former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League-N party have won 24 of the 34 seats decided in the first two phases of voting, said Raja Shakeel, a spokesman for the regional election commission. Turnout exceeded 56% in the regional capital.

Shakee said voting for the remaining 11 seats is scheduled for Aug. 10, but the party is already on course to form the next regional government.

It marks the party's return to power in Pakistan-administered Kashmir after a decade.

Shakeel said the elections are being held in three phases because of security concerns and heavy monsoon rains, which have complicated campaigning and made it difficult to hold large outdoor rallies.

According to regional government and election officials said turnout exceeded 50% in many areas, including Muzaffarabad, despite security concerns and calls for a boycott by the outlawed Joint Awami Action Committee, or JAAC, which is notorious for holding violent protests.

Sharif congratulated the winning candidates in a statement.

Pakistan and India each administer part of Kashmir but claim the Himalayan region in its entirety. The nuclear-armed neighbors have fought two of their three wars over Kashmir since gaining independence from Britain in 1947.

The election campaign was overshadowed by weeks of protests led by the JAAC, which in recent weeks has been urging residents not to vote. The regional government recently banned the group, citing security and public-order concerns.

Supporters of the group repeatedly clashed with police ahead of Sunday's vote, but residents said they exercised their right of vote despite fears of violence. Analysts said the election reinforced public confidence in the democratic process, with voters choosing to cast ballots despite weeks of protests, violence and a boycott campaign by the JAAC.

The dispute has centered on 12 seats reserved for people displaced from Indian-controlled Kashmir since the end of British colonial rule. The JAAC argues the seats give disproportionate political influence to people living outside Pakistan-administered Kashmir and has demanded they be abolished.

The controversy intensified in June when the region's Supreme Court ruled the seats are protected under the constitution and cannot be abolished without a constitutional amendment.

The seats were created to ensure representation for people displaced from Indian-controlled Kashmir who settled elsewhere in Pakistan because Pakistan-administered Kashmir lacked the capacity to accommodate them. Many have lived in Pakistan' for decades, while others later moved to Pakistan-administered Kashmir.

Authorities often accuse JAAC supporters of trying to disrupt the election and alleged that members of the Pakistani Taliban had infiltrated the protests. The JAAC has not responded to the allegations.