'Not ready to respect vote,' Faraz asks opposition as it cries foul in GB polls

Referring to the two main opposition parties 'rejection' of the Gilgit-Baltistan election results, Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Senator Shibli Faraz questioned on Tuesday whether those calling for the vote to be respected were even ready to respect it themselves.

As unofficial results of the G-B election showed unfavourable outcomes for the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), the party's chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari threatened to take 'extreme and difficult path' if the alleged rigging was not reversed.

The Pakistan Muslim Leauge - Nawaz (PML-N), whose popular slogan the information minister was referring to, also accused the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government of having 'rigged' the elections.

The incumbent government emerged as the victor in the G-B polls as the party and its ally, Majlis Wahdat-e-Muslimeen (MWM), managed to secure at least 11 seats, according to unofficial and unconfirmed results.

The PTI bagged 10 seats, independent candidates won seven, PPP managed to clinch three and PML-N two.

“All the survey polls in G-B had shown Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf's (PTI) lead and Imran Khan as the popular leader,” the information minister said in a tweet.

Minister Faraz added that Bilawal's emotional statements were devoid of logic and facts, and that the opposition had to give up the unhealthy tradition of not conceding defeat after elections.

“Such an attitude is against democratic values, so those lecturing on democracy should adopt democratic norms,” he added. “How could those who did nothing for the people of Gilgit-Baltistan in the last 10 years get votes?”

On November 16, addressing a sit-in in front of Deputy Commissioner of Gilgit city, Bilawal said that the PPP candidates were pressurised to leave the party and join the PTI but "each and every one of them remained steadfast with the party except one".

He said that when the authorities witnessed the support for the PPP by the people of G-B from Siachen to Gilgit, they got worried. "The election commission started supporting the illegal acts of the PTI ministers," he alleged, adding that the Chief Election Commissioner (ECP) visited the region to hold a press conference against the opposition parties instead of stopping the federal minister from unlawful acts.

The PPP chairman claimed that three seats were "clearly" snatched from the PPP but warned that no one will be allowed to do so, saying that his party will continue to protest at every place where alleged rigging occurred.