ISLAMABAD: Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), still attempting to recover from the devastation of the 2005 earthquake, will hold elections to its Assembly on Tuesday with 369 candidates contesting for 41 seats.

The newly elected legislators will nominate eight others, taking the total strength of the Assembly to 49.

Six constituencies are reserved for migrants from the Kashmir Valley and six for migrants from Jammu and PoK who live in Pakistan.

Polling booths for elections to these 12 constituencies, described as "refugee constituencies", are distributed across Pakistan. A total of 58,000 migrants settled in Pakistan will vote. The main parties in the election are the ruling Muslim Conference, the Pakistan People's Party (Azad Kashmir) and a new entrant to the scene, the People's Muslim League. The Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA), a combine of six religious groups, including the Jamaat-e-Islami and the Jamaat-e-Ulema Islami, has also fielded candidates for the first time.

Nominations rejected

Islamabad says it has no role in these elections, but nominations of the pro-independence Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front were rejected because it refused to sign a "loyalty clause", reaffirming its faith in the accession of Kashmir to Pakistan.

JKLF leader Amanullah Khan declared at a public meeting in Rawalakot on Saturday that his party would organise protest demonstrations against this "black law" on the election day.

Journalists from the area say that with all contesting parties having declared their loyalty to Pakistan, the prospects of a settlement on Kashmir or the India-Pakistan peace process are not important issues in the elections and they hardly found a mention in the campaigns.

Rather, each candidate focused on persuading voters that he would be best able to deliver on immediate local issues, the post-quake reconstruction work chief among them. An important consideration for voters is the perceived closeness of a political party to Islamabad.

Not contesting

The present Prime Minister, Sikandar Hayat Khan, also a Muslim Conference stalwart, is not contesting. While PoK has its own President and Prime Minister, in effect it is ruled from Islamabad, which controls the region's foreign affairs, defence and finances. The PoK Government also does not have any administrative control over the Northern Areas that were in the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir and that have been incorporated as parts of Pakistan. No elections are held in the Northern Areas, whose five districts — Gilgit, Skardu, Diamir, Ghizer and Ghanche — are directly ruled by Pakistan through the Minister of Kashmir Affairs.

The PoK Government essentially oversees the local administration.

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