Chief election commissioner blames G-B govt for LG polls delay

GILGIT: Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Raja Shahbaz Khan has pointed fingers at the Gilgit-Baltistan government for the delay in conducting local government elections in the region.

In a conversation with HUM News English, the chief election commissioner expressed readiness for the polls, stating, “We are ready to hold the polls tomorrow if they notify the date.”

He revealed that the G-B election commission has adequately trained its staff for the upcoming local government (LG) polls.

It’s worth noting that, Gilgit-Baltistan has not witnessed any similar electoral events since the 2004 local elections, making the next local body elections a significant milestone for the region’s governance and representation.

Shahbaz criticized the former chief minister, Khalid Khurshid, for his inaction over the past three years regarding the promulgation of the Gilgit-Baltistan LG Act, prepared in 2014.

He noted that the 2014 Pakistan People’s Party-led government had drafted the law without setting a promulgation date, leaving it to the government’s discretion.

“When current G-B Chief Minister Hajji Gulbar Khan took charge, I met him and asked him to announce the promulgation of the act, which he did, but delimitation rules are not set yet,” he said.

The criticism follows the chief election commissioner’s earlier letter to the chief secretary, calling for the urgent need for holding local government elections in G-B, which have been pending since 2004.

The letter emphasized the constitutional duty of the G-B government to establish a local government system, as mandated by Article 114 of the Government of Gilgit-Baltistan Order, 2018.

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It also highlighted a directive from the G-B court, instructing the government to promptly announce the election schedule.

The CEC said that in preparation for the elections, the commission has undertaken a thorough door-to-door verification of the voters’ list to ensure its accuracy.

Despite the Gilgit-Baltistan government’s implemention of the G-B Local Government Act, 2014, on July 18, 2023, the CEC pointed out a significant delay in the passage of delimitation rules by the cabinet, a pre-requisite for conducting the elections.

The chief election commissioner urged the chief secretary to include the local government polls issue on the agenda for the upcoming cabinet meeting.

The timely passage of delimitation rules is crucial for the conduct of the polls in Gilgit-Baltistan, he said.