Intense Unprecedented Electioneering for 15 Nov GB Poll Going Full Steam

WEB DESK: Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) poll are all set to take place on November 15 and the political campaigns are gaining momentum every day, representing the importance of the elections for the formation of the third legislative assembly of GB.

All major political parties including Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz (PML-N), and ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) are vying to persuade the voters in the region to elect them for leading the government.

The government and opposition are leaving no stones unturned to go hard on their rivals even the coalition partners of the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) are competing against each other in GB polls.

PPP leader Bilawal Bhutto and PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz have both expedited their campaigns as elections come closer.

The ruling PTI is also organizing public gatherings to instill the minds of the people with the corruption of both opposition parties whilst in power as well as strengthening its position to get excessive votes.Bilawal, who is in GB since October 22, has refused to leave the region until he is ‘expelled’ while Maryam Nawaz is attempting to cement the latest narrative that her party has built with the support of the local population.

PTI, PPP, and PML-N are getting good headcounts in their gatherings which has kept the picture still blurred that who would form the third government in GB after PPP and PML-N.

Prime Minister Imran Khan recently visited Gilgit Baltistan on its 73rd Independence Day and announced a provisional provincial status for the region.

He is hopeful that the PTI will gain power in the northern region too likewise in other provinces.

Interestingly, the political parties have not given a stage to the local leaders and electioneering is being done out by the parties’ high-ups.

The political leaders are not even refraining from passing derogatory remarks on their opponents and declaring each other as traitors of the country.

Meanwhile, despite the second wave of a novel coronavirus in the country, the precautionary measures are being flouted at large during electioneering.GB has 24 constituencies and its assembly has 33 seats. Candidates from political parties will stand for 24 seats. Of the remaining seats, six are reserved for women and three for technocrats. The area has a population of about 1.3 million and a total of 745,361 voters have registered, of which roughly half or 33.

Gilgit-Baltistan was previously known as the Federally Administered Northern Areas (FANA). It is an autonomous region in northern Pakistan with separate government and electoral systems.

In 1970, it became a single administrative unit called the Northern Areas under administrative control of the Ministry of Kashmir Affairs and Northern Areas, formed from the amalgamation of the Gilgit Agency, the Baltistan District of the Ladakh Wazarat, and the states of Hunza and Nagar.

The region is divided into two administrative divisions: Gilgit and Baltistan/Skardu. Its government is made up of a GB Council, Legislative Assembly, ministers, a chief minister and a governor. Its assembly has the power to make laws on 61 subjects, including land revenue and administrative courts and it votes on the budget.