LAHORE: Special Assistant to Chief Minister Punjab for Information Dr. Firdous Ashiq Awan has said that today people of the region will lay the foundation of new Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) through free and fair elections.
On a social media website Twitter, Firdous Ashiq Awan said that first priority of the government in new GB will end the sense of deprivation, transfer power to lower levels of government and granting people their rights. “Today’s transparent elections will be the start of development and prosperity in the region,” she added.
گلگت بلتستان کے عوام آج آزاد اور منصفانہ انتخابات میں ووٹ کی پرچی کے زریعے نئے گلگت بلتستان کی بنیاد رکھنے جارہے ہیں جہاں احساس محرومی کا خاتمہ،اختیارات کی نچلی سطح پر منتقلی اور حقدار تک اس کا حق پہنچانااولین ترجیح ہوگی
آج کے شفاف انتخابات گلگت کی ترقی وخوشحالی پر مہرثبت کریں گے— Dr. Firdous Ashiq Awan (@Dr_FirdousAwan) November 15, 2020
Voting for the general elections of GB Assembly on Sunday is underway amid tight security. As many as 126,997 fresh voters will poll their right to vote in general elections of Gilgit-Baltistan.
A total of 1,160 polling stations have been set up for GB elections, out of which 311 polling stations have been declared sensitive and 428 have been declared highly sensitive.
A total of 330 people are now standing in the elections. The PML-Q is fielding candidates in 14 constituencies. And the PTI has issued party tickets to 22 people and expressed its support for Majlis Wahdat-e-Muslimeen’s candidates in two constituencies.
The PPP, which suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of the PML-N in 2015, announced candidates for all 24 constituencies.
Foolproof security arrangements have been made for the elections. Around 15000 police personnel from Punjab, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan and locals are performing the duties while paramilitary forces had also deployed.
Surveys by Gallup and Pulse Consultant revealed a close contest between the PTI and the PPP, while the PML-N comes third.
The surveys found PM Imran Khan as the most popular leader in GB followed by Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and Nawaz Sharif. Respondents of the survey, around 30% of them, believe elections will be transparent and free from the rigging.
When asked about which political party they would vote for on 15th Nov (the Election Day), 27% of the Gallup respondents said they would vote for the PTI, 24% said the PPP, and 14% said they would vote for the PML-N.
On the other hand, 35% of the Pulse Consultant respondents said they would vote for the PTI, 26% said the PPP and 14% said the PML-N. Gallup survey revealed there is a gap of only 3% between the PTI and the PPP as the first choice of voters.
However, in the Pulse survey, the gap between the two leading parties is 9% but the trend is the same — the PTI is the first choice, PPP the second one and the PML-N has been selected by voters as the third choice.
