MUZAFFARABAD: As many as 660 candidates submitted their nomination papers for 41 seats of the Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Legislative Assembly by June 16, of which 35 were rejected, an Election Commission spokesperson said on Sunday.

He said 519 candidates filed their nomination papers in the 29 constituencies in AJK and 141 in the remaining 12 constituencies in Pakistan. Of them, 28 and seven nominations were rejected, respectively.

All candidates are required to swear allegiance to the accession of the state of Jammu and Kashmir to Pakistan by signing a declaration in nomination papers, and since those advocating complete independence of the disputed region refuse to sign, their papers are subsequently rejected.

However, it was not clear how many of the 35 nomination papers were rejected for this particular reason and how many for others.

When asked, the spokesperson told Dawn that the commission had yet to receive report in this regard from the returning officers.

`All I can tell you now is that as of today, 491 candidates in 29 constituencies in AJK and 134 in 12 constituencies in Pakistan are in the fray,` he said.

However, appeals against the rejection or acceptance of the nomination papers can be filed in the office of chief election commissioner (CEC) at 2pm on June 22 by the candidates or their validly nominated representatives, he added.

He said the appeals would beheardbythe CEConJune 23 and 24 and decisions would be announced on June 25 and 26.

Withdrawals would be made on June 27, following which the final list of candidates would be displayed on June 28 and election symbols would be allotted on June 29.

Meanwhile, AJK`s chief secretary, Sikandar Sultan Raja, has directed all government servants to avoid involving themselves in politicking.

Referring to reports on local and social media that certain government employees were supporting candidates of one political party or the other, and that the district and divisional administrations and police were giving protocol to AJK and federal ministers during their visits for electioneering purposes, the chief secretary made it clear that the guidelines issued by the CEC in this regard should be implemented in letter and spirit. Tariq Naqash