Opposition rejects G-B election results

A broad opposition alliance including Imran Khan’s PTI on Monday rejected the results of the Gilgit-Baltistan (G-B) elections, alleging widespread rigging and manipulation, and announced plans for protests and further political action.

The PPP emerged in the lead in the G-B elections, as unofficial results showed the party ahead on 11 of the 24 seats contested in Sunday’s polling. The PML-N was leading in five constituencies; the PTI in three and its ally, MWM, in one seat. Independent candidates were ahead in two constituencies.

Addressing a press conference on Monday, PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan declared the polls “fake and rigged,” announcing that the party would observe a “black day” in G-B on oath-taking day and issue a white paper detailing alleged irregularities.

He claimed that PTI had secured clear victories in at least eight constituencies and possessed Form-47 results for three seats.

“We were winning 100 percent in eight seats where we should have received official results,” he said, alleging pre-poll rigging and a “systematic plan” to exclude PTI from the electoral process.

Senate Opposition Leader Raja Nasir Abbas, who also heads the MWM party, alleged large-scale manipulation, citing delays in results and selective dissemination of outcomes as factors raising serious questions about transparency.

He claimed that an “information blackout” in the region was aimed at concealing facts and accused authorities of depriving PTI candidates of a level playing field.

He alleged political interference, ground-level coercion, and engineered defections, saying such practices had distorted the electoral environment.

“Public mandate has been stolen and redistributed,” he said, warning that undermining genuine political leadership could create a dangerous vacuum and erode trust in the state.

Separately, an opposition parties alliance—the TTAP—also held a consultative meeting, chaired by Mahmood Khan Achakzai, who also serves as National Assembly opposition leader.

The meeting was attended by Raja Nasir Abbas, PTI leader Asad Qaiser, former senator Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar, and alliance spokesperson Akhunzada.

In a strongly worded declaration issued after the meeting, the TTAP alleged that opposition parties, particularly the PTI, were deliberately sidelined through various tactics during G-B polls. It termed the process a “replay of the 2024 general elections” and outright rejected the results.

“When decisions are made elsewhere, elections become a mere formality,” it said, adding that the credibility of the G-B Election Commission and the electoral process had been severely undermined.

It stressed that public support cannot be “snatched or stolen” and warned that any power gained through manipulation would be unsustainable.