GILGIT: Two former chief ministers of Gilgit-Baltistan belonging to Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) have lost elections whereas speaker of the legislative assembly has also failed to return victorious.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) candidate Raja Muhammad Zakaria Khan Maqpoon defeated former GB CM Syed Mehdi Shah of PPP in GBA-7, SKARDU-I. Likewise, PPP’s Jamil Ahmed defeated PML-N candidate and erstwhile chief minister Hafiz Hafeezur Rehman in GBA-2, GILGIT-II.
Independent candidate Wazir Muhammad Saleem emerged victorious against PTI candidate and speaker of the legislative assembly Fida Muhammad Nashad in GBA-9, SKARDU-III.
PPP won the first elections in 2009 while PML-N emerged victorious in the second election, winning 22 seats out of a total of 33. The 2020 polls were originally scheduled to be held in July but had to be postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Gilgit Baltistan has a total of 24 constituencies while its assembly has 33 seats. The political candidates will contest for 24 out of 33 seats while the remaining seats are reserved for women (6) and technocrats (3). According to the Election Commission of GB, the total number of registered voters is 745,361, of which 339,992 are women.
Nearly 1,234 polling stations have been set up in 24 constituencies, of which 415 had been declared extremely sensitive. Police, GB Scouts, the Rangers and FC personnel would be deployed to ensure a smooth election process.
GB caretaker Chief Minister Mir Afzal had earlier announced that Pakistan Army’s support would not be sought for the upcoming elections.
Unofficial results of twenty three constituencies GB-1, GB-2, GB-4, GB-5, GB-6, GB-7, GB-8, GB-9, GB-10, GB-11, GB-12, GB-13, GB-14, GB-15, GB-16, GB-17, GB-18, GB-19, GB-20, GB-21, GB-22, GB-23 and GB-24 have been declared. PTI secured nine seats while PPP got four seats, PML-N grabbed two seats, MWM secured one seat and independent candidates have secured seven seats.
