Bilawal says PPP received highest no of votes in Gilgit Baltistan elections

ISLAMABAD: Amid allegations of rigging by the Opposition parties, PPP Chairman on Wednesday said that his party bagged highest number of votes in the recently held Gilgit Baltistan elections.

Bilawal, through a tweet, also shared the graph of the percentage of votes secured by the political parties polled in the GB elections.

According to the graph, the PPP secured 25% of votes, PTI 24% of votes, PML-N secured 12% votes, JUI-F 1% votes, MWM secured 3% votes and independent candidates secured 15% of votes out of the total votes polled in the GB elections.

Read more: FAFEN says Gilgit Baltistan elections were 'orderly' but had problems with results management

He added that despite not having a level playing field, the PPP has secured the largest number of votes in the polls.

Bilawal vows to protest

Earlier, the PPP chairman had accused the government of rigging the Gilgit Baltistan elections 2020, vowing that he will "safeguard the right of the people's vote" in the region.

Lashing out at the federal government after the results were announced in which ruling PTI emerged as the single largest party, Bilawal had said that he will lead the party's protest against "rigging" till the right of the vote was not safeguarded.

Read more: My election has been stolen, says Bilawal Bhutto

"The PTI was not even prepared to contest the elections," alleged Bilawal. "They did not even have a candidate for the post of the chief minister [for Gilgit Baltistan]."

'Opposition could've won majority by jointly contesting polls'

The Gilgit Baltistan election results mirror the survey conclusion published ahead of the polls, the Institute for Public Opinion Research (IPOR) said on Wednesday.

Gallup survey had shown PTI taking the lead in the legislative assembly with 27% of the seats, Second in the race was PPP at 24% while PML-N was predicted to stand at 14%. The unofficial election results put PTI at 28%, PPP at 24% and PML-N at 11%.

Keeping in view a margin of error of 2-3%, the Gallup survey stands vindicated by the election results.

IPOR said an analysis of the data showed the opposition parties - PPP, PML-N, and JUI-F - may have won the majority if the polls were jointly contested.

“In the wake of election rigging PDM parties are alleging of voter fraud, but If PDM would have been contesting elections on one platform versus PTI and Independents, the election outcome would have been totally different,” said the IPOR.

IPOR said the PTI secured only 24% of total votes. By jointly contesting the polls, the PDM could have secured a 39% mandate. Projecting the votes in terms of seats, the institute found PDM may have grabbed 11 seats with a clear majority.

No one single-party emerged victorious in the elections as PTI bagged nine out of 23 seats while independent candidates secured seven. PPP and PML-N won on three and two constituencies respectively.