ISLAMABAD (AP) — 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 on Wednesday, 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% in the regional capital.
