General elections were held in Azad Kashmir starting from 27 July 2026 to 10 August 2026. The elections were held in 33 constituencies of Azad Kashmir and 12 constituencies of the refugees of Jammu and Kashmir in Pakistan.
The election campaign took place amid heightened political tensions and civil unrest of in parts of the Azad Kashmir. In June 2026, clashes between Pakistan Army and protesters led by the Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC), demanding the abolition of refugee seats, resulted in many deaths and multiple injuries. Authorities imposed restrictions on public gatherings and arrested several activists, while opposition groups and human rights advocates criticized the government's response to the protests. The unrest prompted concerns regarding the political environment ahead of the elections due to the participation of various political and civil society groups. Citing the unrest, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), the winning party of the previous elections, announced that it would boycott these elections.
Background Following the 2021 elections, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) won 32 seats, the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) won 12 seats, and the Pakistan Muslim League (N) won 7 seats. The All Jammu and Kashmir Muslim Conference (AJKMC) and Jammu Kashmir Peoples Party (JKPP) also bagged a seat each.
The PTI comfortably formed a majority government with 32 out of 53 seats, electing Abdul Qayyum Khan Niazi as the region's Prime Minister. The party also clinched the offices of Speaker, Deputy Speaker, and President, electing Chaudhry Anwarul Haq, Riaz Gujar, and Sultan Mehmood Chaudhry, respectively. Less than a year later, on 14 April 2022, following a resolution of a vote of no-confidence by 25 members from his own party, Niazi resigned his office. The movers of the resolution accused him of "loss of the trust of the parliamentary party, failure to highlight Kashmir issue and implement party manifesto in addition to bad or good governance, nepotism and violation of merit".
He was replaced by Tanveer Ilyas Khan, the president of PTI's regional chapter, who was elected on 18 April 2022. However, on 11 April 2023, similar to his predecessor, Khan ceased to be Prime Minister less than a year later when he was disqualified by the High Court of Azad Jammu and Kashmir after being found guilty of contempt of court. He also ceased to be a member of the assembly, rendering his seat vacant.
Khan was replaced by Haq, the Speaker of the Assembly, who was elected unopposed to the Prime Minister's office on 20 April 2023. Haq created his own forward bloc of the PTI consisting of 12 members, and subsequently formed a coalition government with the PPP and PML(N).
Following defections from the PTI's forward bloc, the PPP and PML(N) increased their number of seats to 29 and 9, respectively. The PTI now only had 13 members, with eight of them being part of the forward bloc. On 17 November 2025, Haq was ousted through a motion of no confidence that was supported by the 36 members of the Assembly affiliated with the PPP and PML(N).
On the same day, he was replaced by Faisal Mumtaz Rathore, who was elected to the Assembly as a member of the PPP. The PPP formed a majority government in the region for the first time since 2016. The PML(N) and the PTI, including members of the forward bloc, remained on the opposition benches.
On 5 June 2026, the Azad Jammu and Kashmir Election Commission (AJKEC) announced the schedule for the election, setting 27 July 2026 as the polling date. Candidates filed nomination papers from 9 to 19 June, scrutiny was carried out from 20 June, and candidates filed appeals on rejections and acceptances of nomination papers from 21 to 24 June. Appeals were heard on 26 and 27 June, and decisions were made from 28 to 29 June. Candidates were allowed to withdraw their candidacies until 30 June. The list of contesting candidates were published on 1 July, and electoral symbols were allotted on 2 July.
On 2 July 2026, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) announced that it would boycott the election, citing the political and social unrest in the region.
On 21 July 2026, the AJKEC announced a revision of the election's schedule, where polling would now take place in three phases. Polling will be held in Mirpur Division on 27 July, in Muzaffarabad Division and 12 refugee seats in the rest of Pakistan on 2 August, and in Poonch Division on 10 August. In a press conference, Ghulam Mustafa Mughal, the Chief Election Commissioner, cited the need to ensure the availability of army personnel to provide security during the polling process. He further stated that this new stage-wise polling process was decided after consulting with participating political parties.
On 7 August 2026, elections in the districts of Poonch and Sudhnoti, which were to be held on 10 August along with Bagh District, were postponed due to security concerns over the law-and-order situation in both districts.
Parties The table below lists all parties that won seats in the 2021 elections, except for Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), which has boycotted the 2026 elections. NameNational LeaderClaimed Ideology(ies)Total seats at start of the 12th Legislative AssemblyTotal seats at the end of the 12th Legislative AssemblySymbolPML(N)Nawaz SharifConservatismEconomic liberalismFederalismTigerPPPBilawal Bhutto ZardariSocial DemocracySecularismSocial liberalismArrowAJKMCAttique Ahmed KhanPakistani nationalismIslamic democracyKashmiriyatHorseJKPPHassan Ibrahim KhanKashmiri nationalismIslamic democracyRegionalismSword
Results The tables below show the results of the elections. The first table shows the results for the elections across all 24 constituencies, and shows each political party's standing after independents joining different parties and the allotment of reserved seats. The latter three tables show more detailed results for each of the 45 constituencies, separated by polling dates. PartyVotes%SeatsContestedWon (General)Reserved (Women)Reserved (Technocrats, Ulema, Overseas)Total+/-PML(N)655,27444.4644253331 23PPP466,79131.6743122014 15IPP98,9976.720000JKADB40,5822.751001 1JI36,3212.460000AJKMC33,2452.26360000 1Jammu Kashmir United Movement24,4181.660000PML(Q)10,6970.730000JKPP1,4500.1090000Pakistan Nazriyati Party1,0240.070000Jammu Kashmir National Liberation Movement8780.060000Tehreek Jawanan Pakistan7770.050000Gujjar Qaumi Party1580.010000PPP(SB)1300.010000MQM-P1060.010000Qaumi Ittehad Party950.010000Jammu Kashmir Liberation League820.010000Jammu Kashmir Democratic Party600.0040000MJAH420.0030000Jamaat Falah Insaniat70.00050000JUI-F20.00010000IND102,8446.980000Valid ballots/Total seats1,473,98098.20385346Rejected ballots26,9801.80Cast ballots1,500,960Registered voters/turnout3,111,16248.24Sources:
By constituency
Phase I (Mirpur Division) ConstituencyWinnerRunner-upMarginRegistered VotersVotes CastVoter TurnoutSource(s)DistrictNameCandidatePartyVotesCandidatePartyVotesMirpurLA-1Chaudhry Azhar SadiqPML(N)15,42757.44Muhammad Afsar ShahidPPP9,83237.615,595105,17428,20426.82LA-2Chaudhry Qasim MajeedPPP13,37645.82Azeem Bakhsh ChaudhryPML(N)8,49929.114,87799,58530,70930.84LA-3Chaudhry Yasir SultanPPP12,59041.35Chaudhry Muhammad SaeedPML(N)11,08136.401,509106,75532,01029.98LA-4Chaudhry Rukhsar AhmedPML(N)22,37652.08Sohaib ArshadPPP15,85136.896,52599,62445,19245.36BhimberLA-5Waqar Ahmed NoorPML(N)29,82148.35Chaudhry Pervaiz AshrafPPP29,10047.12721103,95662,54660.17LA-6Chaudhry Muhammad RazzaqPML(N)32,73253.80Chaudhry Ali ShanIPP26,71843.926,014108,97661,97156.87LA-7Chaudhry Tariq FarooqPML(N)37,61351.16Chaudhry Anwarul HaqIND25,53434.7312,079129,99475,41458.01KotliLA-8Zafar Iqbal MalikPPP19,99452.39Malik Muhammad Nawaz KhanPML(N)12,23332.057,76190,32738,79342.95LA-9Umair NaeemPML(N)31,68051.61Chaudhry Javed Iqbal BudhanviPPP29,09847.402,582103,21161,42559.51LA-10Chaudhry Muhammad YasinPPP12,43144.02Fateh Mahmood-ul-HassanPML(N)9,24632.743,18587,14529,10333.40LA-11Raja Muhammad Asif KhanPML(N)26,75849.40Chaudhry Muhammad AkhlaqPPP22,17440.944,584124,66454,26943.53LA-12Raja Muhammad Riasat KhanPML(N)35,16851.84Chaudhry Muhammad YasinPPP30,32044.694,848126,33267,83853.70LA-13Raja Ayaz Ahmed KhanPML(N)21,28439.73Nisar AnsarIPP15,89229.675,392115,69454,66547.25
Phase II (Muzaffarabad Division & Refugee Seats ConstituencyWinnerRunner-upMarginRegistered VotersVotes CastVoter TurnoutSource(s)DistrictNameCandidatePartyVotesCandidatePartyVotesNeelumLA-25Shah Ghulam QadirPML(N)19,20146.33Mian Abdul WaheedPPP13,83633.385,36580,23942,31252.73LA-26Mian Abdul WaheedPPP16,52441.51Shah Ghulam QadirPML(N)14,50136.422,02371,67240,47956.48MuzaffarabadLA-27Noreen ArifPML(N)18,91932.12Sardar Tabarak AliIPP18,62131.61298107,06159,87855.93LA-28Syed Bazil Ali NaqviPPP27,73147.72Chaudhry Shahzad MahmoodPML(N)26,51845.631,21399,97359,22859.24LA-29Mukhtar Ahmad Khan AbbasiPPP19,792Iftikhar GilaniPML(N)16,413LA-30Mustafa Bashir AbbasiPML(N)17,89545.54Mubashir Munir AwanPPP12,32331.365,57268,22840,22958.96LA-31Saqib Majeed RajaPML(N)32,51154.24Chaudhry Latif AkbarPPP23,95739.978,554128,17761,47047.96LA-32Raja Farooq Haider KhanPML(N)21,61345.46Muhammad Ashfaq ZaffarPPP19,27440.542,33990,71048,49953.47LA-33Dewan Ali Khan ChughtaiPPP25,88250.63Muhammad RasheedPML(N)21,48142.024,40186,79051,11758.90Jammu & OthersLA-34Nasir Hussain DarPML(N)5,68253.44Riaz Ahmed GujjarIND2,12419.983,55819,00810,82656.95LA-35Chaudhry Muhammad Ismail GujjarPML(N)24,31867.35Sardar Muhammad GhiasIND5,96516.5218,35387,27436,64941.99LA-36Muhammad Ahsan RazaPML(N)27,21864.32Ahsan IsmailPPP12,99030.7014,228100,07343,10143.07LA-37Maryam JavedPML(N)28,54751.27Usman AleemJammu Kashmir United Movement22,93741.195,610111,20356,40850.73LA-38Choudhary Zeeshan Younas TandaPML(N)13,65252.11Chaudhry Mohammad Akbar IbrahimPML(Q)9,52336.354,12950,22526,64753.05LA-39Raja Muhammad Siddique KhanPML(N)10,98158.93Chaudhry Fakhar ZamanPPP5,08127.275,90037,63919,05250.62Kashmir ValleyLA-40Amir Abdul Ghaffar LonePPP2,91489.61Muhammad Saleem ButtIPP1364.182,7785,7773,27956.76LA-41Syed Muhammad Amir ShahPML(N)1,80445.01Saba DewanIND1,52338.002816,4104,08263.68LA-42Syed Shaukat Ali ShahPML(N)1,52463.32Muhammad Asim SharifPPP47719.821,0474,1672,45158.82LA-43Muhammad Yasin LonePML(N)1,27655.99Javed ButtPPP56324.707133,3502,31969.22LA-44Muhammad Ahmed Raza QadriPML(N)2,30857.47Meher-un-NisaAJKMC74018.431,5686,9524,06458.46LA-45Abdul Majid Khan PPP3,44874.55Khawaja Muhammad DilawarAJKMC82317.792,6257,6554,67561.07
Phase III (Poonch Division) ConstituencyWinnerRunner-upMarginRegistered VotersVotes CastVoter TurnoutSource(s)DistrictNameCandidatePartyVotesCandidatePartyVotesBaghLA-14Sajid Iqbal AbbasiJKADB40,52260.41Attique Ahmed KhanAJKMC19,63729.2820,885121,19968,09456.18LA-15Ziaul QamarPPP17,01836.90Mushtaq Ahmed MinhasPML(N)15,12732.801,891114,93746,79940.72LA-16Mir Akbar KhanPML(N)20,79350.81Qamr uz Zaman KhanPPP16,96441.453,829106,72142,01739.37LA-17Faisal Mumtaz RathorePPP33,87239.99Chaudhry Mohsin AzizPML(N)32,35438.201,518117,51485,16672.47PoonchLA-18Elections postponed.LA-19LA-20LA-21LA-22SudhnotiLA-23LA-24
Reserved seats Reserved seatWinnerSource(s)CandidatePartyWomenSehrish Qamar MalikPML(N)Maryam IdreesPML(N)Maryam ZamanPML(N)Farzana YaqoobPPPZobia Khurshid RajaPPPTechnocratsIftikhar GilaniPML(N)UlemaMazhar Saeed ShahPML(N)OverseasChaudhry Abdul Rehman ArainPML(N)
Irregularities and allegations