CM-elect's oath today; Bilawal lands in Gilgit-Baltistan

GILGIT: Advocate Amjad Hussain is set to be sworn in as the chief minister of Gilgit-Baltistan on Monday at Chinar Bagh after his earlier oath-taking ceremony, scheduled for July 1, was delayed due to Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari’s visit to Iran to attend Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s funeral.

Bilawal returned from Tehran and arrived in Skardu on Sunday, where he was received by Governor Syed Mehdi Shah, chief minister-elect Hussain and senior PPP leaders before travelling onward to Gilgit. According to his schedule, he is also due to attend a memorial for the martyrs of the Gilgit-Baltistan War of Independence and address the gathering before the swearing-in ceremony.

Governor Shah will administer the oath to Hussain. The ceremony is expected to be attended by the PPP’s central and local leadership, members of the Gilgit-Baltistan Assembly and government officials, along with a large number of party workers.

Hussain was elected unopposed as Leader of the House in the Gilgit-Baltistan Assembly on June 22.

Cabinet discussions and coalition arrangements

During the visit, Bilawal is also expected to discuss and decide the composition of the Gilgit-Baltistan cabinet.

The PPP has decided to bring the Istehkam-i-Pakistan Party (IPP) into the government after it backed the PPP candidate for the chief minister’s office. The two parties have agreed that the IPP will receive three ministries.

The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) also supported the PPP’s candidate under an understanding reached between the central leaderships of the two parties. Under that arrangement, the deputy speaker has been selected from the PML-N, while the party is also to be given the governor’s office as well as the opposition leader’s slot in the Gilgit-Baltistan Assembly.

Appellate court orders re-polling in Diamer constituencies

Separately, the Gilgit-Baltistan Supreme Appellate Court has ordered re-polling at the Loshi polling station in GBA-15 Diamer. Chief Judge Justice Sardar Muhammad Shamim had reserved his ruling on an election petition challenging the result for the constituency as reflected in Form 47.

The petition was filed by JUI-F candidate Waliur Rehman, while independent candidate Dilpazeer Khan had been declared the returned candidate under Form 47. After hearing arguments from both sides and representatives of the Election Commission, the chief judge reserved the verdict on Thursday.

On Saturday, the court directed the Gilgit-Baltistan chief election commissioner to immediately issue a fresh schedule and hold re-polling at the Loshi Thak female polling station in accordance with the law.

The chief judge also ordered re-polling at eight polling stations in GBA-17 Diamer. During hearings on three separate election petitions on Thursday, proceedings in the GBA-9 Skardu case were adjourned until Monday.

Earlier, the chief judge had suspended the election result of independent candidate Dilpazeer Khan from GBA-15 Diamer, who later joined the IPP, as well as the result of PPP candidate Fida Muhammad Nashad from GBA-9 Skardu. In all three cases, the court directed the relevant authorities to maintain the suspension of the results until final decisions are issued.