Gilgit: After the first meeting of Gilgit-Baltistan cabinet, Chief Minister Haji Gulbar Khan directed the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) of Gilgit-Baltistan-Raja Shahbaz Khan to make arrangements for local government elections in Gilgit Baltistan.
The meeting was held at CM Office Gilgit where Chief Secretary Mohyuddin Ahmed Wani and Inspector General of Police Afzal Mahmood Butt attended the cabinet meeting. Media reports claim that CEC Shahbaz Khan has said that the Election Commission of Gilgit-Baltistan is prepared to hold local government elections in Gilgit Baltistan in the first week of November. This will be the first local body polls held in 18 years.
Around 1,300 employees from different departments would be responsible to conduct door-to-door verification of the voter list as the GB Court had issued the directives in 2021 to carry local bodies elections in the region.
The hearing took place under the headship of Chief Justice Malik Haq Nawaz and Justice Ali Baig. The two-member bench, in the official verdict, stated that local bodies and institutions were run illegally by non-elected administrative officials under the GB government.
The verdict remained unimplemented until June 12, 2022, when the GB court ordered the government to organise local body elections in GB and share the schedule by one month. Earlier, CM Khalid Khurshid Khan challenged the verdict in the GB Supreme Appellate Court, but the case has been pending and no action took place yet.