Islamabad, June 9:
Pakistan-occupied Kashmir’s Gilgit-Baltistan region appears headed for a coalition government after no party secured a majority in the elections to the so-called legislative assembly.
According to unofficial results reported by Pakistani media, President Asif Ali Zardari’s Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) emerged as the largest party with nine seats, while the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) won six seats. Five independent candidates were also elected.
Former prime minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), despite his imprisonment, was leading in two seats, while its ally, the Majlis Wahdat-i-Muslimeen, was ahead in one constituency.
The assembly comprises 33 seats, including 24 directly elected seats contested in Sunday’s polls and eight reserved seats for women, technocrats and professionals.
India strongly objected to the elections, reiterating that Gilgit-Baltistan is an integral part of India and has been “illegally and forcibly” occupied by Pakistan.
New Delhi maintained that the entire Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, including Gilgit-Baltistan, legally acceded to India in 1947 and remain its inalienable territory.