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…
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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.…
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…
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…
By Raja Asghar in The Dawn, Nov 14 ISLAMABAD, Nov 13: Two opposition parties that did not fare well in Thursday’s polls for the Gilgit-Baltistan Legislative Assembly staged a “ritual walkout” in the National Assembly on Friday to protest against the alleged rigging, to be counter-charged by Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, who said it would give a wrong message vis-à-vis the Kashmir dispute between Pakistan and India. Both the prime minister and one of…
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…