Ahsan Iqbal claims GB election commissioner told him 'no one listens' to him

PML-N secretary-general Ahsan Iqbal has claimed that Gilgit Baltistan Chief Election Commissioner Raja Shahbaz Khan told him "no one listens" to him when Iqbal went to see him at his office.

Iqbal made the startling claim on Monday in response to a press conference by the commissioner telling PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari to come to his office, rather than hold press conferences and allege that the election process was "rigged".

"I came to your office good sir and you told me that no one listens to you," wrote Iqbal.

Bilawal has called the Gilgit Baltistan election results into question, accusing the government of engaging in "rigging" and "stealing" his party's votes.

The PPP chairman said that he will continue to lead the party's protest against "rigging" until full protection to the right of votes guaranteed, claiming that in some constituencies ballot boxes were stolen, in others women weren't allowed to vote and in others still no polling even took place.

Bilawal further claimed that a PPP candidate was in the lead by a significant margin but overnight a PTI candidate won by a mere two votes.

In response to Bilawal's press conference, Raja Shahbaz said that the PPP chairman should have demanded that the recounting be done in front of cameras.

He said that counting in some constituencies had been "halted due to riots and sit-ins".

The PML-N, too, has accused the government of rigging the elections using state machinery and with the help of turncoats.

Party vice-president Maryam Nawaz said the people of GB have "no confidence" in the PTI.

She said PTI failing to cement a clear majority in the northern region is a "shameful defeat" for the incumbent government. "This defeat is a telling sign of what the future has in store."