DM Monitoring
GILGIT: Unofficial and preliminary results of the Gilgit-Baltistan Legislative Assembly elections held on 24 seats on Sunday showed the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) emerged victorious in four constituencies.
According to the unofficial results received so far, PPP has bagged four seats, while independent candidates have secured two seats. The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) has won one seat so far.
The polling process began at 8am and continued till 5pm without any break on Sunday.
A total of 403 candidates took part in the elections, including 396 men and 8 women. The total number of registered voters in the region was 963,034, including 566,097 male and 396,937 female voters.
As voting began, Gilgit Baltistan Chief Election Commissioner Raja Shahbaz visited various polling stations to review the voting process. He inspected arrangements and monitored the conduct of voting at different stations.
Speaking to the media after the polling process, Raja Shahbaz said that polling was completed peacefully, with a notably high turnout among women voters.
The chief election commissioner said he personally visited polling stations to monitor the voting process and assess arrangements on the ground.
“I myself visited polling stations,” Raja Shahbaz said, adding that polling staff and security personnel performed their duties effectively.
He said the overall law and order situation remained satisfactory throughout the polling process. “The election process has been completed in a peaceful environment,” he said.
Unofficial, preliminary results
Unofficial results in GBA-3 Gilgit-III showed the independent candidate succeeded after securing 7035 votes. PML-N’s Muhammad Iqbal remained runner-up with 6487 votes.
In GBA-4 Nagar-I, unofficial and unconfirmed results from all 53 polling stations showed PPP’s Muhammad Ali Akhtar succeeded by securing 7,670 votes, while Islami Tehreek Pakistan’s (ITP) candidate Muhammad Ayub Waziri remained second with 6,566 votes.
Unofficial and preliminary results from all 31 polling stations of GBA-7 Skardu-I showed PPP’s Syed Taqeer Mehdi has emerged victorious by securing 4,500 votes, while IPP’s Raja Jalal Hussain Khan remained runner-up with 4056 votes.
Unofficial and preliminary results from all 54 polling stations of the GBA-9 Skardu-III constituency showed PPP’s Fida Muhammad emerged victorious after securing 6,314 votes. Independent candidate Wazir Muhammad Aslam got 6106 votes.
In GBA-12 Shigar, PPP’s Imran Nadeem emerged victorious after securing 11663 votes, while ITP’s Raja Muhammad Azam Khan got 7667 votes.
In GBA-22 Ghanche-I, unofficial and unconfirmed results from all 58 polling stations showed Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s (PML-N) candidate Muhammad Ibrahim Sanai emerged victorious after grabbing 9308 votes, while PPP’s Ashiq Hussain remained second with 8052 votes.
Unofficial and preliminary results from all 46 polling stations of the GBA-24 Ghanche-III constituency show independent candidate Asad Sahfiq emerged as the winner after securing 8,092 votes. PPP’s Muhamamd Ismail got 5072 votes.
‘Electoral engineering’
Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leaders have raised concerns over delays in the issuance of Form-45 during the Gilgit-Baltistan Assembly elections.
PPP Parliamentarians’ Secretary General Nayyer Hussain Bukhari said that Form-45 was not being provided and claimed that party representatives were being asked to leave polling areas.
Bukhari said he had contacted the GB CEC and informed him about the situation. He also stated that the elections were held in a peaceful environment and urged that the situation should not be allowed to deteriorate further, calling on the Election Commission to immediately play its role.
Separately, PPP leader Qamar Zaman Kaira said that he had spoken to the election commissioner regarding the issuance of Form-45. He stated that the results given by the public should be reflected accurately, urging party workers to remain peaceful at polling stations.
Kaira further said the elections should not be made controversial and instructed workers not to leave polling stations without receiving Form-45.
PPP’s Nadeem Afzal Chan has alleged attempts to influence the Gilgit-Baltistan elections. He said the federal government should refrain from “engineering” the electoral process in the region.
“Such tactics cannot steal the mandate of the people of GB,” he added.
Nadeem Afzal claimed that two federal ministers were pressuring the administrative machinery in Gilgit-Baltistan. “Federal ministers are trying to influence the election results,” he alleged.
He further said presiding officers were facing pressure not to issue Form-45.
He urged the GB CEC to take immediate notice of the situation, provide protection to presiding officers, ensure timely issuance of Form-45, and take indiscriminate action against those interfering in the electoral process.
Meanwhile, GB CEC has issued directives to Returning Officers (ROs) across all 24 constituencies to ensure the issuance of verified Form 45 results.
Raja instructed that the process must be carried out in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Elections Act 2017 and Election Rules 2017.
“Form-45 is being issued at all polling stations where vote counting has concluded,” he added.
Key parties, candidates in the race
The Election Commission had established 1,391 polling stations across all districts of Gilgit-Baltistan. Of these, 488 were classified as normal, 349 as sensitive and 551 as highly sensitive.
The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) has fielded the highest number of candidates, with 23 contesting the elections, followed by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) with 22 and 19 independents backed by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).
The Istehkam-e-Pakistan Party (IPP) has fielded 15 candidates, the Pakistan Nazriyati Party (PNP) 11, while Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) and Islami Tehreek Pakistan (ITP) have fielded nine candidates each.
The Majlis Wahdat-e-Muslimeen (MWM) has nominated seven candidates, while Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) and Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) have fielded six candidates each. The Awami Workers Party (AWP) has fielded four candidates.
Security arrangements
Authorities said foolproof security arrangements were put in place for the elections. Personnel from the local police, Gilgit-Baltistan Scouts, and contingents from Punjab and Sindh police have been deployed to perform security duties at polling stations and other key locations.
Additional security personnel were deployed at vulnerable locations, while law enforcement agencies and the district administration are on high alert throughout the election process.
Speaking to journalists, GB Inspector General of Police Nasir Akbar Khan said that more than 17,500 personnel were deployed for security during the electoral process.
Police, Rangers, and other law enforcement agencies are on alert, he said, adding that additional force has been deployed at sensitive polling stations.
