PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif to visit Gilgit-Baltistan ahead of June 7 polls

LAHORE: Former prime minister and PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif will visit Gilgit-Baltistan on Tuesday to meet party ticket holders ahead of the June 7 elections. The GB Election Commission had announced that general elections in the region would be held on June 7 after a four-month delay. On Monday, Punjab Senior Provincial Minister Maryam Aurangzeb said on X that the PML-N president will visit GB on Tuesday for a one-day visit. During the visit, he will meet party leaders and ticket-holders. “He will also discuss the upcoming elections in Gilgit-Baltistan and matters related to the development and welfare of the people of the region,” she said. Nawaz has not been active in politics since the February 2024 general elections. However, he is serving as head of the Lahore Authority for Heritage Revival. The former prime minister often presides over its meetings and oversees measures for the protection of the city’s heritage. The PML-N supremo also acts as a political mentor to his daughter and Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz. Earlier in April, Nawaz had vowed that, if elected, the party would focus on development in GB. Nawaz asserted that GB “is as dear to me as the rest of Pakistan is, and as Azad Kashmir, Punjab, Sindh, Balochistan and KP are”. PTI alleges pre-poll rigging The PTI said in a statement on Monday that “systematic pre-poll rigging and state-backed repression” were being carried out ahead of the upcoming GB elections. “The party believes that the Islamabad-imposed Form-47 government in collaboration with state institutions, the local administration, and law enforcement agencies, is being used to influence the electoral process and suppress political opposition,” the PTI said. The party also expressed serious concern over the conduct of the GB Election Commission. “We find it frivolous that a notice was issued to the mother of former chief minister Khalid Khurshid for displaying election posters so that candidates could be forced into quitting PTI and joining government-backed parties,” it said. The PTI added that the ruling PML-N was openly violating the electoral code of conduct through federal-level campaigning and the use of administrative influence. “At the same time, PTI lawmakers are being prevented from entering the region. We maintain that the Election Commission’s failure to address these violations, while taking action against PTI candidates and their families, raises serious questions about its impartiality and independence,” it said.