CHILAS: A protest by the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) over the delayed issuance of Form 48 for the GBLA-16 Diamer-II constituency entered its third consecutive day on Tuesday, with demonstrators continuing to block the Karakoram Highway (KKH), causing major disruptions to traffic and stranding hundreds of travellers.
PPP workers remained gathered outside the District Returning Officer's residence in Chilas and maintained their sit-in on the KKH, which has remained closed to all types of traffic since the protest began. Long queues of vehicles have formed on both sides of the highway, while the local administration has so far been unable to restore the flow of traffic.
Concerns over election results
The PPP Gilgit-Baltistan chapter said the unusual delay in the issuance of Form 48 had raised serious concerns regarding the transparency of the electoral process. Protesters vowed to continue their sit-in until the form was issued and the election outcome was clarified.
The controversy centres on the GBLA-16 Diamer-II constituency, where Form 47 has already been issued, showing independent candidate Syed Imam Malik ahead by 24 votes. However, PPP leaders contend that official records reflected in Form 48 indicate their candidate, Attaullah, won the election by a margin of 269 votes.
Attaullah rejected the decision of the Gilgit-Baltistan Election Commission to order re-polling at four polling stations on June 15, arguing that polling had been conducted transparently on June 7 in the presence of all polling agents and that Form 45 had already been issued.
Re-polling decision challenged
According to the PPP candidate, Form 47 was compiled on the basis of Form 45, while only the counting of postal ballots remained pending. He maintained that delaying the postal ballot count and subsequently ordering re-polling was unjustified.
The PPP alleged that the Election Commission had withheld Form 48 and instead issued a notification for re-polling at polling stations associated with the opposing candidate. Party leaders described the move as an attempt to undermine the public mandate and deprive voters of their electoral choice.
Meanwhile, the Election Commission's order for re-polling remains in force, and no official announcement has been made regarding the issuance of Form 48. As the deadlock continues, the prolonged closure of the Karakoram Highway has left a large number of passengers stranded and disrupted transport links across the region.
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