Bilawal Bhutto urges independent candidates of Gilgit-Baltistan to not join 'soon-to-end govt'

As Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) is set to form a government in Gilgit-Baltistan with the inclusion of five independents in the party, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Thursday appealed to the winning independent candidates not to trade their victories with a government which was about to end soon.

As Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) is set to form a government in Gilgit-Baltistan with the inclusion of five independents in the party, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Thursday appealed to the winning independent candidates not to trade their victories with a government which was about to end soon. "Do not become a minister for two to three months," he said while talking to journalists, asking the independent candidates to protect the rights of the people of Gilgit-Baltistan, reported Dawn.

Zardari added that the PTI government was cheating independents by telling each one of them that they were candidates for the chief minister's post. He also said that the Imran Khan-led ruling government in Islamabad would be sent packing by January next year.

"We have to send Imran Khan packing because he has failed on every front whether (it's) Kashmir cause or COVID-19. This PTI government does not have the capacity," he said. Zardari alleged the Gilgit-Baltistan chief election commissioner (CEC) of playing a biased role in the elections.

Protests have erupted all over in Pakistan-occupied Gilgit Baltistan amid claims of vote-rigging in the recently held election, with opposition candidates accusing the local election commission of delaying and manipulating the results of Sunday's polls to favour Imran Khan's PTI party. According to Dawn, Zardari said reports of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan and Free and Fair Election Network clearly showed that rigging and violation of election laws did happen in the Gilgit-Baltistan polls.

He further said that he would expose the poll rigging at the public meeting of the opposition's alliance - Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) in Peshawar on November 22. "We will tell the people that the slogan of Vote per daaka namanzoor is gaining momentum in GB," he said.

Meanwhile, PTI now has the support of 16 members in the 33-member Gilgit-Baltistan Legislative Assembly as five independent winners on Thursday announced their decision to join the party. The main opposition parties-- Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and PPP-- have termed the November 15 election rigged.

PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz on Wednesday tore into the Pakistan ruling party for "rigging" Pakistan-occupied Gilgit Baltistan elections and said that "no one in Pakistan was ready to accept the fake result" of the elections. (ANI)

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