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ISLAMABAD – Chief Minister Gilgit-Baltistan Syed Mehdi Shah called on Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani at the PM House on Saturday afternoon. The PM congratulated Syed Mehdi Shah on assuming office and hoped that the people of Gilgit-Baltistan would witness a new era of development and prosperity under his able leadership. He said the unanimous election of PPP candidates in G-B is a reflection of the Government’s firm commitment towards political reconciliation and politics…

ISLAMABAD: Kashmir Affairs Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira on Tuesday presented the Rs 6,755.55 million budget of the Azad Jammu and Kashmir Council for the fiscal year 2009-10. He also presented revised estimates of Rs 5,000.1 million for the year 2008-09. Presenting the second budget of the council for the year 2009-10, Kaira said salaries, allowances and pensions of employees of the AJK Council Secretariat had been increased. Moreover, presenting the current year’s budget, the minister…

By Farooq Ahmed in the Dawn GILGIT, Dec 11: Syed Mehdi Shah, the first Chief Minister of Gilgit-Baltistan, was administered oath of office by Acting Governor Qamar Zaman Kaira at a ceremony here on Friday. Members of the G-B Legislative Assembly, PPP leaders and senior civil, military and judiciary officials attended the ceremony. Talking to reporters, Mr Kaira stressed the importance of maintaining peace for prosperity and development of the region and urged people to…

By Farooq Ahmed in The Dawn, Dec 9 GILGIT, Dec 8: The Election Commission has notified membership of three technocrats and six women in the Gilgit-Baltistan Legislative Assembly (GBLA) as the seats were distributed among political parties on proportionate basis. Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Rahim Nawaz Durrani told Dawn that Jamil Ahmed and Mutabiat Shah of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) while Maulana Sarwar Shah of Jamiat Ulema Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) was notified as technocrats. However, PPP…

By Tariq Naqash in The Dawn, Dec6 MUZAFFARABAD, Dec 4: A high level meeting held here on Friday to settle the issue of mode of payments for execution of developmental schemes of the local government and rural development (LG&RD) department failed to arrive at a decision following serious differences among the participants, sources told Dawn. Sources said strong opposition of the incumbent LG&RD minister, Raja Naseer Ahmed Khan, to the enforcement of Assignment Account System…

By Tariq Naqash in The Dawn, Nov 22 MUZAFFARABAD, Nov 21: Three suspected militants blew themselves up after police and villagers gave a chase and surrounded them in a mountainous area here on Saturday. According to officials, police launched a search in a suburb of the Azad Kashmir capital after residents reported that three men had dumped a bag of weapons behind a house. Police and civil defence department officials found three Kalashnikovs along with…

by FAROOQ MOIN in The Nation, Nov 21 The writer is a freelance contributor The historic elections of the new Gilgit-Baltistan Legislative Assembly for ’empowerment’ and ‘self-governance’ would usher in all-round socio-economic development of the people of the region, thus fulfilling their long-standing aspirations. The elections would strengthen democracy, give identity to the people and accelerate the pace of development for which already substantial funds have been allocated. For the first time in the history…

ISLAMABAD, Nov 19: Syed Mehdi Shah, chief of the Gilgit-Baltistan chapter of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), is set to become the first chief minister of the region after his nomination as the party’s parliamentary leader in the Legislative Assembly here on Thursday. Mehdi Shah was nominated parliamentary leader at a meeting of the members-elect of the Gilgit-Baltistan Assembly. The decision was announced by PPP information secretary Fauzia Wahab at a news conference. The PPP…

The Daily Times, Nov 19 LAHORE: The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) has appointed Syed Mehdi Shah as leader of the House in the Gilgit-Baltistan Legislative Assembly (GBLA), a private TV channel reported on Wednesday. Shah said the PPP would not seek an alliance with other parties in forming the government. Separately, PPP candidate Aftab Haider won the polls from LA-3, Gilgit-3. Returning Officer Raja Minhaj said Haider was declared successful. Meanwhile, police arrested Mehboob Hussain,…

The Nation, Nov 17 THE elections in Gilgit-Baltistan, held on November 12, amid the charge of pre-poll rigging against the PPP, later caused other major political parties also to take to the streets of Skardu, the principal town in the region, in protest at what they alleged was massive manipulation of the polls. The exercise of conducting elections, the first since the Gilgit-Baltistan Empowerment and Self-Governance Order was promulgated last August, was not without unpleasantness.…