- Bilawal addresses public gathering in GB’s Ghizer ahead of polls.
- Wouldn’t be able to legislate for GB without majority: Bilawal.
- Other parties won’t allow PPP’s legislation to be passed: PPP chief.
Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari has urged the residents of Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) to give his party a clear mandate in the upcoming June 7 elections.
As part of his election campaign, Bilawal addressed a public gathering in GB’s Ghizer on Thursday.
“A mandate is needed from Gilgit so that we can go to Islamabad and say that, before creating another province, the voice of Gilgit must be heard,” he told the gathering.
The PPP chief said that a jiyala (PPP loyalist) chief minister is needed in GB to ensure land ownership rights for local residents.
Bilawal stated that the PPP requires a majority mandate in the upcoming elections to implement the ownership law, adding that otherwise the party would not be able to legislate for Gilgit-Baltistan.
He further said that whether it is the PML-N or any other party, they would not allow the PPP’s legislation to be passed.
“It is necessary to form a PPP government so that the people here can obtain ownership rights. Cultivable land is currently divisible, and it must be made available to the people,” he added.
GB is set to go to the polls on June 7 to elect its 4th Legislative Assembly. The 2009 Gilgit-Baltistan (Empowerment and Self-Governance) Order, issued by President Asif Ali Zardari, was intended to grant the region autonomy to govern itself.
In GB, there are 963,034 registered voters, 506,097 male and 456,937 female, a 29% increase since 2020. The gender gap between male and female voters has reduced to 4% from 8% in 2020.
Despite a visible increase in population, as reflected in the rise in registered voters, there has been no new delimitation in the region since 1994. An Election Commission source attributed it to the region’s census being kept confidential.
