MIRPUR (AJK)-Election for the new President of Azad Jammu & Kashmir State will be held on August 15, it was officially announced on Saturday. Members of both houses of the AJK Parliament - including the newly-elected Legislative Assembly and the AJK Council, will elect the new President of the State for next five-year constitutional term, the AJK Election Commission sources told this scribe on Saturday. The stipulated constitutional term of the incumbent AJK President Sardar Muhammad Yaqoob Khan is being ended on August 24, 2016. AJK Chief Election Commissioner Ghulam Mustafa Mughal on Saturday issued the schedule of the election to the office of the new President. According to the schedule, nomination papers could be filed in the office of the AJK CEC (Returning Officer) in Muzaffarabad on August 11, 2016 from 10am to 12noon.
Scrutiny of the nomination papers will be held the same day after 12noon. The candidates could withdraw nomination papers the next day - August 12, 2016 by 12noon.
Polling will be held on August 15, 2016 between 10am to 3pm at the Lodging Hall of AJK Legislative Assembly in Muzaffarabad. According to an official notification, AJK EC Secretary Mian Naeem Ullah will perform as Presiding Officer in the scheduled election to the AJK President. The CEC has, under Clause 13 of the AJK Presidential Election Rules, requested the incumbent AJK President to summon joint session of both the houses of the AJK Parliament on August 15, a spokesperson for the AJK EC said in a media release late Saturday.