Sherry Rehman demands level-playing field for everyone in GB polls

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan People’s Party Parliamentary Leader in the Senate Senator Sherry Rehman has demanded a level-playing field for everyone, including women, in the upcoming Gilgit-Baltistan elections 2020.

“It is shocking that not only women are being disallowed to submit papers in their respective areas, but they have also not been given proper security despite threats,” she said in a statement here on Thursday.

Sherry said PPP’s Sadia Danish needed enhanced security as the GB administration had clearly told her that she was under threat. “She has also been told not to submit her papers in the Diamer area, where she is contesting, but submit the same elsewhere,” she added.

She said it is important to point out that the Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) has also urged the Election Commission of Gilgit-Baltistan (ECGB) to take appropriate measures to further improve voters’ access to polling stations, particularly of women, for the Gilgit-Baltistan Assembly election. “They are also deprived of their basic rights in some parts of the region, especially in Diamer. It is our duty and responsibility to make sure that women have been given all the rights in contesting the elections,” she said.

Sherry said PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has categorically stated that we will not let anyone snatch women’s right to vote in the GB elections. She said Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto fought to empower women all over Pakistan and we must continue her legacy. “The PPP has introduced democracy in this mountainous region."

Senator Sherry Rehman said Federal Minister Gandapur has been illegally visiting and campaigning in Gilgit Baltistan. “This is an open violation of election rules in GB. According to the Election Act, 2017, the federal government is not allowed to campaign on the ground,” she said. On top of all this, she said, the prime minister had also decided to add to this flagrant rigging and misuse of federal resources by landing in GB for campaign last week.