Observer Report
Gilgit
With political rallies and events of the last few weeks fresh in their minds, the people of Gilgit-Baltistan headed to the polls on Sunday to elect their third legislative assembly. The voting began at 8:00am and ended at 5:00pm sharp.
According to unofficial and unconfirmed result Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) have won 9 seats, independent candidates won 8, and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) clinched 3 seats. Majlis Wahdatul Muslimeen (MWM), an ally of PTI one and Pakistan Muslim League–N (PML-N) emerged victorious in two constituencies.
According to unofficial result, Raja Zakaria Khan Maqpoon of PTI defeated his PPP opponent Syed Mehdi Shah, former G-B chief minister, in GBA-7 election. Maqpoon secured 5,290 votes while Shah managed to bag 4,114 votes.
Muhammad Kazim of Majlis-e-Wahdatul Muslimeen (MWM) – an ally of PTI – won the election in GBA-8 constituency by bagging 7,534 votes. PPP’s Syed M Ali Shah came second with 7,146 votes.
In GBA-12, PTI candidate Raja Azam Khan beat PPP’s Imran Nadeem , beg 7,534 votes. Nadeem managed to secure 7,146 votes.
Independent candidate Javed Ali Manwa emerged victorious after bagging 2,570 votes in GBA-5 election. Rizwan Ali of Majlis-e-Wahdatul Muslimeen secured the second position with 1,850 votes.
In GBA-22, independent candidate Mustaq Hussain with 6,051 votes managed to beat his rival from Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Muhammad Ibrahim Sanai, who could only get 4,945 votes. PPP’s
Muhammad Ismail won the election in GBA-24 constituency by securing 6,206 votes. PTI candidate Syed Shamsuddin came second with 5,361 votes.
Independent candidate Abdul Hameed emerged victorious in GBA-23 election with 3,666 votes. His oponent PTI’s Amina Bibi bagged 3,296 votes, securing the second position.
According to data obtained from the G-B Election Commission, a total of 745,361 people registered to vote today, 339,992 of whom are women. Nearly 1,234 polling stations were set up in the 24 constituencies, of which 415 declared extremely sensitive.
G-B Chief Election Commissioner Raja Shahbaz Khan expressed satisfaction over the election arrangements, process and security related matters during his visit to the different polling stations of GBA-1 and GBA-2 constituencies.
Speaking to the media, he said the process of polling continued smoothly throughout the day and no complains or reservations were received from any candidate or voters across the region.
As many as 330 candidates, including four women, are vying for the 24 general seats in the third legislative assembly of Gilgit-Baltistan.
Pictures and videos showed citizens lined up outside polling stations, wearing face masks and observing social distancing to curb the spread of the coronavirus. Many also braved heavy snowfall in the upper areas of GB to cast their vote.
Hundreds of passengers, headed to GB to cast their votes, were also stranded near Bisham since last night due to a blockade on the Karakoram Highway.
Polling in Ghizer was held with strict implementation of standard operating procedures to curb the spread of Covid-19.
There were also power outages reported at some polling stations, slowing down the voting process as staff used torches to register voter data.
Meanwhile, former-Gilgit-Baltistan Chief Minister Syed Mehdi Shah has failed to secure his seat.”
According to directives issued by the GB government, voters were required to maintain a distance of six feet from each other. Meanwhile, 8,000 bags containing face covers, masks, gloves and sanitisers were dispatched for staff at polling stations.
More than 15,000 security personnel from GB, Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sindh and Balochistan were deployed at polling stations.
Over half of the polling stations have already been categorised sensitive. Out of 1,141 polling stations, 577 have been declared sensit
However, expressing concerns over transparency of today’s polls, PPP Parliamentary Leader in the Senate, Sherry Rehman said, “There are more than 600 members of the Free and Fair Election Network monitoring the election but some have been removed from the polling stations”.
“Members of FAFEN must be given full access and all observers should be allowed inside during the counting of votes as their absence will only create more questions and cause controversy. It is also important that the Election Commission takes strict action,” she said while speaking to the media.
Soon after polls closed at 5pm on Saturday in the 2020 elections for the Gilgit Baltistan Legislative Assembly, the count of votes began across the region’s polling stations.
