GBLA elections: Summary forwarded to PM for election commissioner’s appointment
Gilgit-Baltistan (G-B) may get its first chief election commissioner soon as a summary in this regard has been sent to the prime minister by the Kashmir Affairs Ministry.
This was said by Federal Minister for Kashmir Affairs and G-B Chaudhry Barjis Tahir while talking to The Express Tribune.
Though the Gilgit-Baltistan Legislative Assembly (GBLA) completes its five-year term on December 12, neither has an election commissioner has been nominated by the government, nor has any other mechanism been devised to form a caretaker government prior to the elections.
The minister said that the G-B governor had sent a summary to the ministry seeking the appointment of a provincial election commissioner. “We have already forwarded the summary to the prime minister, who is the competent authority to make the appointment,” said Tahir, while hinting that the election commissioner will be appointed in the next week.
The minister said that appointment of a provincial chief election commissioner would be a step forward as, according to him, the voter list has already been prepared.
Under the Gilgit-Baltistan Empowerment and Self Rule Order, there is no provision for forming a caretaker setup in the area to hold fresh elections. The minister, however, said that the federal government will look to the recommendations of the GBLA on whether “to amend the 2009 order or follow the tradition of the federal and provinces by forming a caretaker setup.”
“The prime minister is competent authority to amend the Order 2009 and if the regional government wants any amendment, we will welcome it,” said the minister.
“We want to shift this amendment power from the federal government to the GBLA in the future and empower the local leadership to amending the rules according to their needs.”
Tahir said that the caretaker government was supposed to be formed by the G-B chief minister and the opposition leader in line with the practice followed by the federation and provinces.
“If the two leaders fail to bring a consensus candidate, the prime minister will be the final authority to appoint the caretaker chief minister,” he said. “Our priority is to hold elections in G-B at the earliest,” he said.
While talking about the current wheat shortage in G-B due to a supply suspension by Pakistan Agriculture Storage and Services Corporation (PASSCO) over Rs26 billion in overdue bills, the minister said that the ministry has sent a summary to the finance division to clear the outstanding amount while asking the corporation to continue supplies to the area.
Tahir said that the federal government in collaboration with the USAID was formulating a tourism policy to revive this key industry in G-B, which has suffered greatly after 10 foreign climbers were killed by terrorists at the Nanga Parbat base camp on June 22, 2013.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 20th, 2014.
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