Salahuddin Haider
THE much-awaited, hotly contested polls for the Gilgit-Baltistan Constituent Assembly are finally over. Results have not been surprising at all. In fact some of the prominent TV anchors and analysts had been repeatedly predicting major chunk of the 23 seats going to the ruling party, which is Tehreek-Insaaf in this case.
Nothing new in it. This has been a normal trend. Before the merger into Khyber Pukhtunkhwa of federally administered areas some time back, the then ruling party PML-N, bagged 15 seats, and Peoples Party in hey days between 2008 and 2013 followed suit. Both these parties, which Imran Khan says had been taking turns by rotation, fully benefited from their rule in the country, and each and formed government in these areas.
In fact some of the experts were very calculated in their comments. They firmly believed that like FATA, Gilgit-Baltistant too always stood by the side of those at the helm in the Centre. PTI now ruling in the Centre, and two of the four provinces with alliance in Balochistan with Balochistan Awami Party of chief minister Jam Kamal, looked confident from the beginning. But credit is also due to PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto and PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz for carrying out impressive campaign
BIlawal seems outraged accusing PTI of stealing elections. He claims that his party should have won at least 12 seats. Some of his party stalwarts were coerced into submission or lured by Imran Khan’s ministers. He looked shocked and aghast at that. But in a country like Pakistan, shifting of loyalties is not new phenomenon. Benazir and Nawaz Sharif too had attempted in the past to pull down each others’ governments in the past.
Such practices had been on since long. Jealousy and foul play have often been repeated and in broad day light. Why complaint now when this is ingrained in country’s culture. Maryam had so far been cautious in her post-election comments, but Bilawal is seething with anger, and had even threatened a march toward Islamabad if his allegation of electoral rigging or changing of results overnight, went unheaded.
No point complaining about such cries for foul play. It is not going to lead to anything positive. Also to worth considering here is the fact that Bilawal had declined Maryam’s request during one-on –one meeting for seat adjustments. Election results showed PTI with a single majority party with 10 seats already in its bad, and, if not all, quit a large chunk of 7 independents going the PTI way. Yet another factor meriting consideration here is that Maryam suffered because of her strong viewpoint against army, which she followed from her father, now almost in self exile. He had accused army chief General Qamar Bajwa, and ISI Director General Lt-General Faiz Hamid of thickly involving themselves in politics, which was not their domain.
Maryam during campaign in the hilly north refrained from naming people. She nevertheless did emphasise that collectively or individually, people of any group or class, must avoid overstepping their limits. This was certainly not bought by the electorate as Gilgit-Baltistan had a population where almost every family had its member was in the army, and many of them offered supreme sacrifices for the country. They, naturally, would not like to hear anything against the defence services. Her statement actually rebounded on her, and her party had to do with just two seats, whereas Peoples Party finished with 4. I remains to be seen whether the latest election is affected by the PML-N stance. Some experts have openly been saying that Nawaz Sharif’s statement at Gujranwala and Quetta rallies of Pakistan Democratic Movement had created a wedge between PPP and PML-N.
