Voting under way for GB Assembly amid tight security

GILGIT: Voters across Gilgit-Baltistan are casting ballots to elect a new assembly amid tight security and a competitive contest between national and regional political parties.

Polling for 24 general seats opened at 8 am and will continue until 5 pm Long queues were reported early in the day in Gilgit, Skardu, and Diamer, Ghizer, Hunza and other districts.

“The commission is utilising all available resources to hold free, fair, and transparent elections,” Chief Election Commissioner Raja Shahbaz Khan said during a visit to polling stations. He said voting began on time across most of the region’s 10 districts.

A total of 396 candidates are contesting the elections, including 266 independents — many of them backed by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), which is contesting without its traditional electoral symbol bat following a legal dispute with the election regulator.

Major political parties have fielded candidates across key constituencies, with the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), and the Istehkam-e-Pakistan Party (IPP) in the race alongside a large pool of independents.

To maintain law and order, authorities have deployed around 15,000 security personnel, including police, Gilgit-Baltistan Scouts, and Punjab Police. The Election Commission has classified 551 polling stations as “highly sensitive” and 349 as “sensitive.”

While polling remained largely peaceful, local media reported minor scuffles between supporters of rival candidates in Skardu, which were quickly brought under control. Some delays and slow voting processes were also reported in parts of Astore.

Assembly structure and key figures

The Gilgit-Baltistan Assembly comprises 33 seats. In addition to 24 directly elected seats, six are reserved for women and three for technocrats, allocated on the basis of proportional representation.

Total registered voters stand at 958,480, including 503,772 men and 454,708 women, across 1,391 polling stations. A simple majority of 17 seats is required to form the government.

The election is being seen as a key test for the PPP and PML-N, both of which have pledged constitutional reforms aimed at granting Gilgit-Baltistan full provincial status.

“I want to give the people of Gilgit-Baltistan the right to govern themselves and full constitutional rights,” PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari said in a video statement as polling began.

Counting is expected to begin later on Sunday evening, with unofficial results likely to emerge by Monday morning.

Under election rules, preliminary results from individual polling stations are being announced progressively, though official consolidated results from all 24 constituencies are not expected until Monday morning.

The results are expected to start trickling in late Sunday evening, with final unofficial tallies likely to be clear by Monday morning.