The Business Recorder, Nov 12
At long last democracy is knocking at the door of Gilgit-Baltistan. The people of this region announced their accession to Pakistan just 11 weeks after the creation of Pakistan, on October 30, 1947 by physically throwing out the Dogra governor Gansara Singh, but democracy took 62 years to reach here.
The problem, that still remains, is that under the Karachi Agreement, their political future is linked with Azad Jammu and Kashmir, which, in turn, is a ‘disputed’ territory under the United Nations resolutions. But the people of Gilgit-Baltistan never countenanced their compromised status and kept pushing Islamabad for fuller integration into the State of Pakistan.
In 1994, the Benazir Bhutto-headed PPP government broke the taboo by granting this region a degree of electoral reforms, to be expanded by successor governments until this September when the PPP-led coalition government issued the Gilgit-Baltistan Empowerment and Self-Government Order.
Of course, the region’s new status remains short of a full provincial-level federating unit, so it cannot send its elected representatives to the National Assembly and Senate. But that is not the worry of some 745,000 voters who go to polls on November 12 – at least not for the time being – to elect its first Gilgit-Baltistan Legislative Assembly.
The tumult the electioneering has generated is unprecedented; at this grave moment in our national life the election in Gilgit-Baltistan tends to revive and reinforce our faith in our democratic destiny. Let the political parties and candidates engaged in this ground-breaking operation exercise restraint, shun mud-slinging and exhibit maturity to define a pattern for the future. Of course, there are complaints of misuse of funds and patronage against the acting Governor, who happens to be a senior member of the PPP.
But it is hoped that Prime Minister Gilani in his forthcoming visit to the area would ensure complete neutrality of the federal government and warn the local administration against being instrumental in any kind of rigging. This election is literally a ‘new dawn’ for the people of Gilgit-Baltistan and it is, therefore, all the more important that this dawn is warm and bright and remains clear of clouds of post-election credibility spat that has, unfortunately become our national habit.
Look at the Gilgit-Baltistan candidacy mosaic and you see a ‘mini Pakistan’ going to the polls. All principal political parties are vigorously engaged, along with a local Gilgit-Baltistan Democratic Alliance (GBDA) and a fairly large number of Independents, in door-to-door and valley-to-valley hectic electioneering.
If the PPP is the largest participant, with 23 candidates in the 24 contested constituencies, the MQM has second place with 19 candidates – ahead of PML (Q), PML (N) and the rest. Altaf Hussain speaks to the voters on almost a daily basis, his party’s popularity being on a rising tangent for his principled stand on the NRO.
Another not too insignificant feature of the candidacy mosaic is the absence of sectarian colour; media reports from the field suggest that only on one seat, Gilgit-1, the contest has a sectarian aspect. On the face of it, Gilgit-Baltistan politics seems to be acquiring a liberal-democratic character, bringing religion into it only peripherally, despite the people’s strong personal commitment to Islam.
The people of Gilgit-Baltistan, if you please, may be late arrivals to the drama of democracy in Pakistan but, over time, they have a fair chance of taking the lead role. By and large, the electioneering in this high altitude, electoral battlefield is peaceful, moving towards a productive finale. It is quite possible that the election throws up a fractionalised mandate, with none of the parties gaining absolute majority in the upcoming Gilgit-Baltistan Legislative Assembly.
So be it, as long as it is truly representative of the people who haven’t had adequate familiarity with party-based politics. What really matters is that the elected representatives are spared the curse of horse-trading, pushed/bank-rolled from Islamabad so that, if and when they form a ruling coalition or a united opposition, they are essentially motivated by their commitments to their constituents. In this election, there is a chance for the people of Pakistan to prove its commitment to democracy and it should not be gambled away in any kind of power play. www.brecorder.com/index.php?id=985679&currPageNo=1&query=&search=&term=&supDate=
The Dawn, Nov 12
AMID the disquieting news from elsewhere in the country, there is a glimmer of hope in the form of the Gilgit-Baltistan Legislative Assembly elections scheduled for tomorrow. Twenty-three seats will be contested in the new-look assembly following the federal government’s Gilgit-Baltistan Empowerment and Self-Governance Order, and the contests have attracted an impressive array of national political leaders who have gone to the area to campaign for their local candidates. Despite the push by national parties, local politics and personalities are expected to play an influential role in the elections and therefore it is difficult to predict the results. Having said that, the PPP and the PML-N (and its rump, the PML-Q) have traditionally been the dominant players and that pattern is expected to continue. The PPP will likely be boosted by the Self-Governance Order and the usual ploy of doling out state patronage in the run-up to elections. The MQM is a new player in the area and may pick up a couple of seats on the back of enticements offered to Baltistanis living in Karachi. Many, if not most, Pakistanis will be unaware of the steadily growing influence of religious extremism in the area and one positive of the high-profile campaigning by mainstream political parties may be that the space gained by extremists will be gradually rolled back.
The elections, though, will be no panacea. The usual campaign promises have been made by candidates, but the socio-economic problems are serious. For example, Gilgit city has no sewerage system or major hospital, issues that have not drawn the attention of candidates. Meanwhile, in the Ghanche district of Baltistan, a major demand of the people is the re-opening of the Kargil-Ladakh route so that families separated by the LoC can reunite or meet again, but candidates have shied away from the issue. Additionally, the federally dominated Gilgit-Baltistan Council is expected to wield the real power and the Self-Governance Order is a halfway house between local governance and full-fledged constitutional and provincial status. Still, the elections are a start and a much-needed fillip in a country reeling from dismal news. http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/editorial/gilgitbaltistan-polls-119
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