Gilgit Baltistan Legislative Assembly
| Provincial Assembly of Gilgit Baltistan | |
|---|---|
| Structure | |
| Seats | 33 (3 vacant) |
|
Political groups
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Government (21)
Opposition (9) |
| Website | |
| GB Legislative Assembly | |
Government (21)
Opposition (9)
The Gilgit-Baltistan Legislative Assembly is a 33-seat unicameral legislative body that was formed as part of the Gilgit-Baltistan Empowerment and Self-Governance Order, 2009 which granted the region self-rule and an elected legislative assembly. Prior to this, the region had been directly ruled from Islamabad.
With deployment of military personnel for security duties, authorities have finalised arrangements to hold elections of Gilgit-Baltistan Legislative Assembly on Monday. Public holiday has been announced in the region for June 8 elections going to be held in 24 constituencies of the region. According to sources, army personnel have been deployed in different areas and ballot papers have been distributed among Returning Officers (ROs). Deployment of troops was requested by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) and the civil administration. Army officers have been given special magisterial powers to be able to control the law and order situation and act against those violating election laws.
The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PMLN) is leading in the early vote count after polling for elections on 24 seats of the Gilgit-Baltistan Legislative Assembly (GBLA) concluded amid strict security. On the other hand, the PPP is losing on a number of major seats. Even Chief Minister Mehdi Shah lost his seat.
Having won 14 seats, the (PMLN) has emerged as the largest party in the GB polls. The Majlis Wahdat-e-Muslimeen (MWM) and Tehreek-e-Islami won two seats each while independent candidates won two seats. The PPP and PTI won one seat each. After winning the by elections held on July 10, 2017 in GBLA-4, Nagar, the PPP has now two seats. GBLA-4 was won by Javaid Hussain of PPP.
According to National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) and the Election Commission of Pakistan, there are 618,364 registered voters in the region with 329,475 men and 288,889 women. An estimated 600,000 people exercised their right to vote at the polling stations to elect 24 legislators. Three members of the legislative assembly will be elected from District Gilgit, three from District Hunza Nagar, six from Skardu, two from Astor, four from Diamer, three from Ghizer and three from Ganche. The PML-N and the PTI had given party tickets to candidates in all constituencies, while candidates from the PPP were contesting on 22 seats. The MWM had 15 contesting candidates, All Pakistan Muslim League (APML) 13, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazl (JUI-F) 10, Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) seven, Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) six, and Tehreek-e-Islami 12 candidates. The Gilgit-Baltistan Legislative Assembly was created through a presidential order in 2009 and the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) won the subsequent elections, completing a five-year term in office. On December 13, 2014, an interim government was set up with a 12-member caretaker cabinet to conduct free and fair elections. Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) GB Justice (R) Syed Tahir Ali Shah thanked all the political parties for their cooperation in conducting peaceful, smooth and transparent elections.In an interview to a news channel, he said no rigging was reported in any constituency of the region which was a big achievement. He said he was satisfied with the law and order situation in the region throughout the day as no unpleasant incident was reported adding holding transparent elections was his responsibility.
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