DistantNews
Support us
PTI alleges pre-poll rigging over security deployment ahead of GB polls
🇵🇰 Pakistan /Elections & Politics

PTI alleges pre-poll rigging over security deployment ahead of GB polls

From Dawn · () English

Summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Named sources Ongoing story
  • PTI alleges pre-poll rigging by federal and Gilgit-Baltistan governments ahead of Sunday's elections.
  • The party claims the deployment of over 13,000 external security personnel aims to control polling stations and disrupt the vote.
  • PTI also cited disrupted internet services, arrests of key workers, and manipulation of postal ballots as evidence of systematic rigging.

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party has accused the federal and Gilgit-Baltistan governments of orchestrating pre-poll rigging ahead of the Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) elections scheduled for Sunday. The party claims that the massive deployment of security forces is a deliberate tactic to manipulate the electoral outcome.

This overwhelming presence of external forces, far exceeding the requirements of the local population, lays bare the regime’s alleged intent to seize control of polling stations, disrupt the voting process with the help of local proxies and engineer a pre-determined outcome on election day.

— Sheikh Waqas AkramPTI's Information Secretary detailing the party's concerns about the security deployment and its alleged purpose.

PTI's Information Secretary, Sheikh Waqas Akram, criticized the deployment of over 13,000 additional security personnel from outside the region, including significant numbers from Punjab Police and Frontier Constabulary. He argued that this force far exceeds the needs of the local population of approximately 900,000, suggesting an intent to seize control of polling stations and disrupt the voting process with the help of local proxies.

In a region with a total population of approximately 900,000 and only 5,600 GB police personnel, the federal government has deployed over 13,000 additional security personnel from outside Gilgit-Baltistan, including 11,000 from the Punjab Police, 1,000 from the Sindh Police, 700 from the Frontier Constabulary (FC) and 140 from the ICT Police.

— Sheikh Waqas AkramPTI's Information Secretary providing specific numbers on the security personnel deployed in Gilgit-Baltistan.

Akram further alleged systematic suppression of the PTI, citing disrupted internet and landline services in Gilgit as a method to sever communication among party workers. He also claimed that key PTI workers have been arrested and that party members were coerced into abandoning the party. The PTI has called upon the international community and human rights organizations to take notice of these alleged violations of fundamental rights and the "blatant murder of democracy."

This massive influx of police is not for maintaining peace but for orchestrating large-scale rigging.

— Sheikh Waqas AkramPTI's Information Secretary accusing the deployed forces of facilitating rigging rather than ensuring peace.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Dawn. Summarized and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

More Stories

From Our Blog