Gilgit Baltistan elections 2020

Elections  in Gilgit Baltistan.. 

Gilgit-Baltistan is ready  to vote in the region’s third election since GB was given the power to rule itself in 2009 through its assembly. The votes will be cast today (November 15).

Voting began at 8am and will continue till 5pm.

GB has 24 constituencies and its assembly has 33 seats. A total of 330 candidates are contesting 24 seats. Of the remaining seats, six are reserved for women and three for technocrats.

The region has a population of about 1.3 million and a total of 745,361 voters have registered, of which roughly half or 339,992 are women. The election commission has set up 1,990 polling stations.

PML-N’s Maryam Nawaz, PPP’s Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, and PM Imran Khan visited the region to campaign for their parties.

Chief Election Commissioner Raja Shahbaz visited multiple polling stations on Sunday and heard complaints from staff and voters. He instructed staff not to bother voters and said polling should be transparent this year.

Deputy Commissioner and District Returning Officer Naveed Khan toured the polling stations Sunday morning and met polling officers.

The first vote in Astore was cast by former local government chairman Muhammad Ramz

Gilgit-Baltistan so important

Gilgit-Baltistan is a historically distinct political entity near the disputed region of Jammu and Kashmir. It is located at the junction of China, Central and South Asia, and Afghanistan.

Gilgit-Baltistan was previously known as the Federally Administered Northern Areas. 

The region is divided into two administrative divisions: Gilgit and Baltistan/Skardu.

CPEC passes through the Karakoram Highway and covers almost 600 kilometres in GB, giving the area a high profile geopolitically.

Since 1947, GB has not been granted provincial status due to its colonial association with the disputed region of Kashmir. During a recent speech, however, PM Khan promised to make GB into a province soon.