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Pakistan's key opposition leader Maryam Nawaz Sharif says Gilgit-Baltistan poll was 'rigged'

Just Earth News | @justearthnews | 20 Nov 2020

Pakistan's key opposition leader Maryam Nawaz Sharif says Gilgit-Baltistan poll was 'rigged'

Maryam Nawaz Sharif Twitter page

Islamabad:  Pakistan's key opposition leader and PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz has slammed the ruling PTI government for "rigging" the Gilgit-Baltistan elections.

"Despite stealing PML-N nominees, despite stealing elections, despite posting officials of all agencies in Gilgit-Baltistan for months, despite manipulation, how many seats did he get? Only eight," she said in a speech in Mansehra as quoted as saying by Dawn News.

"Even those seats are not his, those seats are courtesy of PML-N nominees that were stolen," the former prime minister Nawaz Sharif's daughter said and added: "We won't congratulate Imran Khan for those eight seats, we congratulate the selectors."

Maryam said during her stay in the region she sensed that people of Gilgit-Baltistan were only voicing support for PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif.

"It is because of Nawaz Sharif's narrative that despite a fixed match, you did not get a mandate, you only got crutches," she said.

The complete but unofficial results of all 23 constituencies, where polling was held on Sunday, show that the PTI has emerged as the single largest party with 10 seats, followed by seven independents. The PPP won three seats, the PML-N two and the Majlis Wahdatul Muslimeen, which had a seat adjustment arrangement with the PTI, got one seat, reports Dawn News.

Both PPP and PML-N have both rejected the result of the election.