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.

It comes 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 percent in the regional capital.

Shakeel said voting for the remaining 11 seats is scheduled for August 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, turnout exceeded 50 percent 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 election campaign was overshadowed by weeks of protests led by the JAAC, which in recent weeks has been urging residents not to vote.

The dispute centres 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.



Edited by Altis Wong