On the campaign trail in Shigar, PPP Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari emphasised that any new constitutional amendment must protect Gilgit-Baltistan\u2019s rights and resources and that its elected representatives deserved the authority and revenue promised to other federating units. He has argued that the region should have the same rights under the Constitution\u2019s 18th Amendment and has even questioned the continued existence of the federal ministry that oversees GB. That may sound like a flourish during an election rally, but it touches the oldest wound in GB politics. For decades, its people have been asked to demonstrate loyalty without being given a clear constitutional place inside Pakistan.
\nThe June 7 vote comes amid a fevered campaign. National leaders are flocking to Skardu and Ghizer; PPP chairman Bilawal and PTI chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan are both in the region looking for support. Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif is also set to join the election campaign after being issued a no-objection certificate. Meanwhile, the chief election commissioner has vowed to enforce the code of conduct \u201cacross all parties.\u201d With Punjab approving the deployment of more than 6,000 police personnel equipped with anti-riot gear for election duty, and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif promising that security arrangements will ensure peaceful polling, one could assume that the state is taking no chances. Fair enough. GB is sensitive, and a peaceful vote is in everyone\u2019s interest. But security arrangements must not become political optics. The atmosphere is already tense as PTI leaders say they have been stopped at checkposts for lacking no-objection certificates, while rival parties hold rallies with little hindrance.Regional news alerts History explains why the bar is higher here. Since the 2009 politically empowering reforms, the party ruling in Islamabad has almost always won elections in GB. Whether this happens due to fear of potential rivalry with the centre or a thriving patron-client politics, the GB is too strategically important for its democratic contests to be seen as foregone conclusions.
\nThe deeper issue is the constitutional vacuum. Gilgit-Baltistan was renamed and given an assembly in 2009, but every important decision still rests in Islamabad. The Gilgit-Baltistan Order 2018 attempted to grant political empowerment, yet even after the Supreme Court directed the federal government to replace it with a more equitable framework, the reforms were not implemented. Politicians now promising integration have made similar vows before. Without a clear timeline for full constitutional status, slogans about haq-i-hakimiyat ring hollow. Meanwhile, everyday governance is frayed. GB has lacked elected local bodies for two decades, and therefore, residents desperate for electricity, water, sanitation and roads can only petition assembly members and bureaucrats. Health facilities are rudimentary, and floods, landslides and unchecked tourism are battering a fragile ecology. A credible government will need to confront these issues on a sustainable basis.
\nGilgit-Baltistan\u2019s people have proved their loyalty again and again. They deserve an election that is trusted and a constitutional future that is finally written down. Anything less invites resentment at home and mischief abroad. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
On the campaign trail in Shigar, PPP Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari emphasised that any new constitutional amendment must protect Gilgit-Baltistan\u2019s rights and resources and that its elected representatives deserved the authority and revenue promised to other federating units. He has argued that the region should have the same rights under the Constitution\u2019s 18th Amendment and has […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-549261","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-editorial"],"yoast_head":"\n