An elderly woman casts her vote at a polling station in Gilgit. PHOTO: APP
ISLAMABAD/GILGIT:
The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) has surged ahead in the Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) assembly elections as unofficial and incomplete results show the party ahead in 11 of the 24 seats contested in Sunday’s election campaign.
PPP is followed by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) in five seats. Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) is leading in three seats and its ally, Majlis Wahdat-e-Muslimeen (MWM), in one seat, while independent candidates are ahead in two constituencies.
According to Express News in the wee hours of Monday, PPP candidate Amjad Hussain was leading in GBA-1 Gilgit-I with 1,553 votes after the results of 10 out of 80 polling stations were counted. MWM’s Muhammad Ilyas Siddiqui is second with 635 votes.
Unofficial results from GBA-2 show PML-N candidate Hafeezur Rehman leading the race. PPP candidate Jameel Ahmed is in second place. In GBA-6 Hunza, results from 77 out of 88 polling stations show a close contest, with PTI-backed independent candidate Nek Naam Karim leading with 5,612 votes.
In GBA-7 Skardu-I, where counting has been completed in all 31 polling stations, PPP candidate Syed Tauqeer Mehdi won the seat with 4,295 votes. Istehkam-e-Pakistan Party (IPP) candidate Raja Jalal remained second with 3,849 votes, while PML-N candidate Haji Akbar Taban came third with 2,667 votes.
Unofficial results from GBA-3 show a PTI-backed independent candidate winning by 7,877 votes. In GBA-4 Nagar-I, PPP’s Muhammad Ali Akhtar secured victory with 7,670 votes defeating IPP candidate Muhammad Ayub who got 6,491 votes.
In GBA-9 Skardu-III, PPP candidate Fida Muhammad Nashad won with 6,314 votes while IPP candidate Wazir Muhammad Saleem came second with 6,106 votes. In GBA-22 Ghanche, PML-N’s Ibrahim Sanai won by 9,308 votes. Independent candidates won in GBA-23 Ghanche and GBA-24.
In Astore, PML-N candidates Rana Farman Ali and Rana Muhammad Farooq won GBA-13 Astore-I and GBA-14 Astore-II respectively.
Meanwhile, counting continued in several constituencies. In GBA-10 Skardu, PPP candidate Raja Nasir Ali Khan was leading, against MWM’s Mushtaq Hussain in second place. In GBA-15 Diamer-I, independent candidate Muhammad Dilpazeer was ahead.
In GBA-16 Diamer-II, IPP candidate Atiqullah was leading. In GBA-19 Ghizer-I, independent candidate Nawaz Khan was ahead of PML-N’s Zafar Muhammad, while in GBA-20 Ghizer-II, independent candidate Safdar Ali Shirazi was leading with PML-N’s Abdul Jahan second.
Earlier, voting across the UK was held peacefully on Sunday. Voting began at 8.00 and continued uninterrupted until 17.00 in all districts. Election day passed without major disturbances, and voters turned up in significant numbers at polling stations throughout the region.
According to official figures, there are 963,000 registered voters in GB, including 506,000 men and 456,000 women. A total of 1,391 polling stations were set up, where a large turnout was experienced, with women also participating in significant numbers.
More than 12 political parties, along with independent candidates, participated in the election. Overall, 396 male candidates and eight female candidates participated in the contest, highlighting a competitive field in the region. The contest between the PPP and the PML-N was watched particularly closely.
The Gilgit-Baltistan Assembly consists of 33 seats. Of these, 24 are filled by direct election, while six seats are reserved for women and three for technocrats. A simple majority of 17 seats is required for a party or alliance to form the government.
GB Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Raja Shahbaz Khan visited various polling stations in Gilgit city and reviewed polling arrangements, security arrangements and the overall election environment. Speaking to PTV, he said strong voter turnout was seen across the UK.
He said the security arrangements were satisfactory and the voting was conducted in an organized manner. He noted that women’s turnout at dedicated polling stations reflected a growing awareness of the importance of voting. He expressed satisfaction with the total turnout.
GB Acting Information Minister Ghulam Abbas also praised the voters’ participation in the elections. Speaking to local media, he said voting had gone smoothly, with a significant number of voters turning up at polling stations across the region.
As the counting of votes continued after polling closed, concerns were raised by PPP representatives over non-issuance of “Form 45” – the document containing the vote count at the polling station. The party described the issue as a point of contention in several areas.
Senior PPP leader Qamar Zaman Kaira said he had anticipated concerns regarding the results process and had taken up the matter with the Election Commission earlier and specifically demanded the issuance of “Form 45”.
Kaira urged party workers to remain calm at polling stations and avoid any disturbance, stressing the importance of maintaining peace during the counting process. His concerns were also echoed by the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F).
In a statement, JUI-F leader Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri expressed serious reservations over the “Form 45” issue and described it as a major bone of contention in the ongoing counting process. He said delays in the publication of the results had also cast serious doubt on the credibility of the election process.
Meanwhile, the PTI leaders claimed a strong performance by the party’s candidates in the elections. PTI leader and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Information Minister Shafi Jan said the party had a distinct advantage on the ground compared to other political forces. He urged voters to closely monitor the results process to ensure protection of their mandate.
