by Ghulam Abbas in Pakistan Today,. Nov 17, 2020
ISLAMABAD: As Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), which won majority seats in the Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) election, has started consulting the independent candidates, who are the second largest group, in forming the government in GB, it could have up to 22 seats in the assembly by forming a coalition.
PTI, which has won at least nine seats, already has the support of Majlis-e-Wahdat-ul-Muslimeen (MWM), which has won one seat at GBLA-8 Skardu-II. It needs three to four more seats to form the government in GB.
“Since three to four successful independent candidates had earlier joined the party and they were denied tickets, PTI is confident that they would rejoin the party and support forming government in the area,” said a local PTI leader.
“We have been contacted by both PTI and PPP [Pakistan People’s Party] leaders today. We are discussing available options with our voters and supporters in the constituency,” said Independent candidate at GBLA-10 Raja Nasir while talking to Pakistan Today.
Similarly, PTI has also contacted two independent candidates in Ganache — Mushtaq Hussain of GBLA-22 Ghanche-I and Abdul Hameed of GBLA-23 Ghanche-II — inviting them to join the party. Furthermore, the local leaders of PTI in Skardu have even left for Ganche to have a dialogue with the independent candidates. Haji Abdul Hameed, while talking to local media, said that he would be joining PTI as per the suggestion of his voters.
Javed Manwa, another independent candidate from GBLA-5 Nagar-II, has also been contacted by both the PTI and PPP. As he had earlier joined PTI and was an aspirant of party’s ticket, he has informed his supporters that he would prefer sitting the treasury benches of the GB Assembly.
According to a PTI leader, at least four independent candidates are ready to join the party and they would make their announcement soon. The remaining three candidates are also in contact with the PTI leaders.
After combining forces with the independent candidates and support of MWM, PTI will be in a position to grab 22 seats in the 24-seat assembly.
PTI would also try to win the seat of GBLA-III, Gilgit-3 where the election has been postponed after the death of its candidate, Syed Jafar Shah. Similarly, the party would also test its luck in GBLA-4 Nagar-1, as the PPP candidate had won two seats in this election but is likely to vacate the seat to retain the GBLA-1 Gilgit-I constituency.
Though PPP is also contacting independent candidates to join their party, the independents, foreseeing lucrative offers from PTI, are unlikely to entertain the PPP.
Meanwhile, the chief election commissioner has ordered re-polling in some polling stations where the ballot boxes were allegedly stolen. In this constituency, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s (PML-N) Ghulam Muhammad had secured majority votes.https://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2020/11/16/pti-consults-independents-for-forming-government-in-gb/
