PTI forward bloc’s Gulbar elected G-B CM

Other three candidates boycott polls

PESHAWAR:

 

Haji Gulbar Khan, a prominent leader of the PTI forward bloc, was elected as the chief minister of Gilgit-Baltistan on Thursday. This development came after the disqualification of his predecessor, Khalid Khurshid, earlier in the month due to a challenge to his degree by PPP MPA Ghulam Shahzad Agha in court.

According to the G-B Assembly Speaker, Nazir Ahmed, Gulbar received an overwhelming majority of 19 out of 20 votes from the members of the region's legislature.

According to state-run Radio Pakistan, Raja Azam Khan, who had been endorsed by Khurshid as his successor, boycotted the election, as did Javed Ali Manwa, the leader of one of the three blocs within the party. The third candidate, Raja Muhammad Zakaria Khan Maqpoon, also refused to participate in the election.

Khurshid, who is also a PTI leader and the party's regional president, was disqualified on July 4 for obtaining a license from the bar council based on a fake degree. As a result of his disqualification, the strength of the G-B Assembly reduced to 32 parliamentarians.

Opposition leader in the G-B Assembly, Advocate Amjad Hussain, also resigned from his assembly membership and announced a boycott of the polls.

When the session began at almost 12:30pm, the speaker asked the parliamentarians supporting Gulbar to stand on one side. Nineteen out of the 20 members present in the House expressed their support for him. Of those who supported Gulbar, three each were affiliated with the PML-N and PPP, and one with the JUI-F. The speaker subsequently announced Gulbar as the new chief minister of G-B.

Expressing gratitude to the assembly members for their support, despite his failing health, Gulbar pledged to work towards peace and prosperity in the region.
He belongs to Diamer district and was elected on a PTI ticket in 2020, serving as the G-B health minister. Previously, he had also been a member of the JUI-F during the previous PTI government as well as in 2010-2011. Gulbar took his oath as a G-B assembly member on November 15, 2020, representing the GBA-18 Diamer-IV constituency of the Darel district.

Following Gulbar's election, the PTI issued a statement condemning the perceived "robbery" of G-B's public mandate in broad daylight. The party criticized the denial of the right to rule to a party that held 22 seats out of the 33-member assembly, stating that it amounted to an affront to democracy and the Constitution.

The PTI vowed to reclaim the allegedly snatched mandate and warned of the disastrous consequences of violating the sanctity of the vote.
When the session began at almost 12:30pm, the speaker asked the parliamentarians supporting Gulbar to stand on one side.

(With input from agencies)