Gilgit-Baltistan needs to be saved from Imran: Bilawal
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PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Friday said Gilgit-Baltistan would have to be saved from Imran Khan, as he launched his party’s election campaign for the regional polls scheduled for November 15, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.
He was addressing first of the several rallies planned before the Gilgit-Baltistan Legislative Assembly elections. The House has a total of 33 seats – 24 general seats along with six reserved for women and three for technocrats.
Addressing his supporters in Ghanche, Bilawal said Imran Khan had made many promises before coming into power but did not fulfil any of those. He was depriving people of their jobs and not paying salaries, Bilawal said, adding that the state of affairs had triggered protests from different circles.
Gilgit-Baltistan demands rights and Islamabad would have to listen to the people, he said, asking the crowd to support his party so that the message could be conveyed to the federal capital.
Promising jobs as well as health and education, the PPP chairman said they would continue asking Islamabad until the Gilgit-Baltistan people didn’t get their rights.
The launch of election campaign was the start of a struggle for the rights of people, he remarked, hoping that they would support him just they had done in case of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Benazir Bhutto.
As the regional elections are getting nearer, the opposition has been fearing rigging and repeatedly warning the PTI-led federal government against any interference and manipulation.
In this connection, Bilawal warned on several occasion in recent weeks that rigging in Gilgit-Baltistan elections would be a national security risk for the country.
Similar views were expressed by the PML-N as Ahsan Iqbal, the party’s general secretary, said, “The interest of Pakistan lies in free, fair and transparent elections in Gilgit-Baltistan.”
He warned that Pakistan could not afford to any political controversy or dispute in Gilgit-Baltistan which had already become a flashpoint in the region with many countries eyeing on that.