GB for now

The PML-N looks set to consolidate its recent dominance by winning 11 of the 24 seats in the Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) Legislative Assembly. The polling concluded amidst strict security on Monday with little or no incidents of violence reported unlike the local bodies polls in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The PML-N victory was made sweeter by a spectacular collapse of the PPP and the inability of the much-touted PTI to make a major dent. The PPP and PTI secured four seats each while the Majlis Wahdatul Muslimeen (MWM) and Tehreek-e-Islami won two seats each. Two seats went to independent candidates. The fact that even the former PPP chief minister of Gilgit-Baltistan, Mehdi Shah, lost his seat shows that the population of the region is quick to decide who is governing in their favour or against them. The PML-N success comes as a surprise in an atmosphere where only last year Gilgit-Baltistan saw thousands of people undertake sit-ins against the government’s decision to withdraw the wheat subsidy enjoyed by the region.
Out of 618,364 registered voters in the region, an estimated 600,000 are said to have exercised their right to vote. The number is rather astonishing. The failure of the PTI shows that its rhetoric is no longer working despite the fact that Imran Khan visited the region and the party fielded candidates in all 24 constituencies. Gilgit-Baltistan CEC Tahir Ali Shah said no reports of rigging were received. However, some concerns were raised that PML-N candidates were still campaigning on the day of the election. The high turnout confirms that the people of Gilgit-Baltistan are aware of their political rights and are clear in their political aspirations. The PML-N government will be judged on its ability to deliver development to the region. The region is strategically important to the PML-N’s development agenda for Pakistan with the CPEC flowing through it and the Daimer-Bhasha Dam being set up in the Daimer district. While votes can be seen as the region’s people placing their trust in the PML-N to deliver on its promise of local development, the population of Gilgit-Baltistan will judge the government on the promise of sharing the rewards of the projects with them. If not, then the growing movement for autonomy in the region will gather pace.