PM Nawaz Sharif to visit Gilgit on Wednesday, PPP calls it pre-poll rigging

Meraj Alam

Gilgit: Prime Minister of Pakistan Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif, who is also Chairman of Gilgit-Baltistan Council, is scheduled to visit Gilgit on Wednesday to participate in the oath ceremony of the newly elected GBC members, official sources said.

The prime minister would also chair the budget session of the Gilgit-Baltistan Council and is likely to announce new policies for tourism, mining, minerals, forest, and timber. He is also expected to offer special representation to G-B in the Pakistan-China Economic Corridor project.

According to Spokesman of G-B government Faizullah Faraq, Federal Ministers and PML-N leadership will accompany the Prime Minister during his visit Gilgit.

“Prime Minister will announce a comprehensive development package for the region” he added.

Meanwhile the visit is also being seen by many as an effort to woe voters in Hunza where campaigns for a by-election are underway. The Prime Minister of Pakistan had awarded the party’s ticket to the son of Governor Gilgit-Baltistan for the said election, irking many party leaders, with some offering resignations and deciding to contest on their own.

PPP leaders, in a press conference, had said that they will stage a protest demonstration if the PM or his daughter tries to influence the election results. They had threatened to pelt them with rotten eggs and tomatoes.

Taking to Pamir Time, Provincial president of PPP Amjad Hussain advocate alleged  that Prime Minster’s visit to Gilgit is part of the efforts to state the campaign for his favorite candidate, the son of Governor Gilgit Baltistan, Shah Saleem Khan. He said that this is a pre-poll rigging and the development package he plans to announce is a ploy to fool the voters, and influence the administration.

Meanwhile, Chairman Pakistan People Party (PPP) Bilawal Bhato Zardari has awarded the party’s ticket to former Speaker G-B Assembly Wazeer Baig.