By Farman Ali in The Dawn, Nov 16 SKARDU, Nov 15: Eight people were injured in clashes between supporters of rival political parties in two different areas of Skardu district on Sunday. In Gulabpur village, an MQM procession led by its winning candidate Raja Mohammad Azam Khan was pelted with stones by supporters of PPP candidate Imran Nadeem. Police immediately intervened and brought the situation under control. A clash took place in Hussainabad village between…
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The Dawn, Nov 15 GILGIT, Nov 14: The N and Q factions of Pakistan Muslim League and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement organised separate protests here on Friday against alleged rigging in the Gilgit-Baltistan elections. Hundreds of political workers took to the streets and raised slogans against the government, calling for re-elections in LA-1, LA-2 and LA-3 constituencies. The PML-N candidate in LA-1, Jafarullah, and his supporters held a demonstration outside the Supreme Appellate Court to…
THE DAWN, NOV 15 ELECTIONS and irregularities sadly go hand in hand in Pakistan. The landmark polls in Gilgit-Baltistan were no exception with reports of sporadic violence, allegations of the state machinery’s biased deployment and gross inaccuracies in voters’ lists. In some constituencies, the number of registered voters almost matched the area’s total population. That would suggest that nearly every person in the constituency is of voting age, which doesn’t seem plausible unless populations have…
The Dawn, Nov 14 LAHORE, Nov. 13: In its preliminary report, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) Observers’ Mission has expressed satisfaction over the relatively peaceful conclusion of the Gilgit-Baltistan elections and appreciated the enthusiastic turnout of voters. At the same time, the mission expressed its sorrow over a few incidents of violence which resulted in the death of two persons and injuries to at least 40 others. The mission also regretted that the…
By Kalbe Ali in The Dawn, Nov 14 ISLAMABAD, Nov 13: Government interference, weak administration, procedural irregularities and erroneous voter lists characterised the Gilgit-Baltistan polls, a report issued by a coalition of NGOs has said. The report which is based on preliminary findings and pre-election analysis has been compiled by the Free and Fair Election Network (Fafen). It says significant changes will be necessary for future elections in Gilgit-Baltistan to meet national and international standards.…
The Dawn, Nov 14 GILGIT / SKARDU, Nov 13: The Pakistan People’s Party has won 12 of 23 contested seats and became the largest party in the 33-seat Gilgit-Baltistan Legislative Assembly, according to unofficial results released by the region’s Election Commission. PML-N secured only two seats. The result in one constituency was withheld after the polling agent of an independent candidate was killed in a clash in Darel of the southern Diamer district on Thursday…
The Daily Times, Nov 14 The voting for the first-ever Legislative Assembly elections in the Gilgit-Baltistan region was conducted in a largely peacefully fashion on Thursday. Despite some complaints of unfair means by opposition parties, the reported incidents of violence or rigging appear to bear an incidental character rather than a systematic pattern. The circles monitoring the electioneering in what were once known as the Northern Areas before the enactment of the Empowerment and Self-Governance…
The Daily Times, Nov 2 NEW DELHI: When India’s central bank admitted discovering 400,000 fake notes in its currency reserves, many here woke up to the scale of the country’s counterfeit money problems. Worse still, the embarrassing admission related to a survey from the last financial year to March 2009 and authorities say the problem has since got worse. Police and the central bank have observed a tripling in the value of notes detected or…
Edit in The Dawn, Oct 30 TUESDAY’S slaughter at Machiara National Park in Azad Kashmir must not go unnoticed. After spending the night as guests of a forest department official, a group of politically powerful people went on the rampage in a wildlife park that is protected under local and international law. Gunshots were heard throughout the day, according to area residents and wildlife department scouts. Machiara National Park is sponsored by the Global Environment…
By Farooq Ahmed in the Dawn, Oct 30 GILGIT, Oct 29: Electioneering is getting momentum as almost all national and local parties are stretching their muscles for giving each other tough time in the upcoming elections for the Gilgit-Baltistan Legislative Assembly. The elections would be held on Nov 12 under the supervision of the local court. After implementation of the self-governance order, this would be the first general election in the region. Gilgit-Baltistan has no…
By Tariq Naqash in The Dawn, Oct 21 MUZAFFARABAD, Oct 20: Legislators belonging to the reunified Muslim Conference and an informal alliance of its rivals submitted the nomination papers of their respective candidates for the prime minister’s office here on Tuesday amid claims and counter claims of their victory in Thursday’s crucial election. Legislative Assembly Secretary Syed Ashiq Hussain, who received the documents in his office, told reporters that 11 nominations, proposing and seconding the…