SKARDU (Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir): Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan's party was on Monday reported to be leading in the all-important elections of Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) — which Islamabad has proclaimed as the country's "fifth province" — amid claims of irregularities by opposition parties.
As unofficial results of the November 15 election to the 24 general seats in the Gilgit-Baltistan Assembly started to pouring in, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) was in the lead with at least nine seats, with the Pakistan People Party (PPP) and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) trailing way behind.
Independent candidates had won seven seats, while the PPP was on third place with three seats, followed by the PML-N with two seats.
The voting had begun at 8 a.m. on Sunday and stayed on till 5 p.m. and saw an impressive turnout, despite the chilly weather, with women and the elderly showing up in big numbers.
While the overall process of voting went smoothly throughout the day, PPP Vice President Sherry Rehman had alleged that a number of election observers of the Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) had been removed from the polling stations before the start of the counting.
PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari also claimed that the election was stolen, calling the election process as "unfair polls". (IANS)