THE feud within Pakistan’s ruling alliance stood wide open with the recently concluded sham elections in Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoK) with Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari openly warning Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) that his party would not cooperate with the Government on any matter tills its concerns, particularly over the polls, were addressed. The partners have been at loggerheads ever since the staggered elections began in PoK, with the PPP repeatedly alleging that its ally had resorted to rigging the polls, according to recent reports in Pakistan’s media.

 

Additionally, the issue once again highlighted the contradictions in Islamabad’s narrative of the region being “Azad” or independent. Bhutto-Zardari has nowaccused PML-N of “robbing the votes of the people through bullets, batons, and coercion”, calling the elections a theft of mandate. With PPP being a federal alliance partner, the rivalry in PoK has deepened mistrust, with the clash undermining the coalition Government’s credibility, risking paralysis in Islamabad. Far from being a free exercise of democratic will, the polls were marred by violence, coercion, and widespread allegations of manipulation.