Opposition boycotts meeting convened by Imran Khan on Gilgit-Baltistan elections

New Delhi, 27 September 2020 Sunday

Imran Khan's government is at home on the announcement of holding elections after Pakistan illegally occupied Gilgit-Baltistan as a province, a statement convened by National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser on Monday called for elections in the military-occupied area. While this is considered a major setback for Pakistan's Imran Khan's government, India has also raised objections to Pak's move.

According to Dawn, Pakistan People's Party (PPP) chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has announced a boycott of the meeting, noting that the Jamaat-e-Ulema had earlier called on Islamist leader Maulana Fazlur Rahman to hold talks with former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. .

Bhutto-Zardari tweeted that the Speaker of the National Assembly and Union Ministers have nothing to do with the elections in Gilgit-Baltistan, we condemn the interference of the Central Government in the elections, my party will only talk to the Election Commission, and demand a fair election. Alvi announced that elections would be held on November 15 in Gilgit-Baltistan.

According to the European Foundation for South Asian Studies, the decision to hold elections here, along with granting statehood to Pakistan's Gilgit-Baltistan, was taken in response to India's repeal of Article 370, which grants special status to Jammu and Kashmir.