Sherry Rehman calls PM’s announcement of making Gilgit-Baltistan province illegal
Says the rules don’t allow him to campaign there
PPP Senator Sherry Rehman said that Prime Minister Imran Khan's announcement of making Gilgit-Baltistan a province ahead of the election is illegal.
"If you are in the federal government then the Election Act, 2017 does not allow you to campaign there on the ground," she argued on SAMAA TV show 7se8.
She also criticised federal minister Ali Amin Gandapur for announcing development projects and schemes in the region.
“This is in contradiction with the world's elections laws,” the PPP leader said.
Elections in GB are scheduled on November 15. This will be the region’s third election since it was given the power to rule itself in 2009 through its assembly.
In the first election in 2009 the PPP won, followed by the PML-N in 2015. The PML-N completed its term on June 23, 2020 and the GB Legislative Assembly wrapped up after five years in power. Mir Afzal was sworn in as the caretaker chief minister for GB on June 24.
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 been registered, of which roughly half or 339,992 are women.
PPP Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has been campaigning in the region for the past week. He has visited every district and attended corner meetings. PM Khan, on the other hand, visited the region on Sunday and announced that as per the "youth's wishes", GB would be converted into a province soon.
