Gilgit Baltistan entangled in political instability of Pakistan
Gilgit Baltistan [PoK], April 6 (ANI): Gilgit Baltistan in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir fears that its government may be toppled after courting controversy over the alleged participation of its police force in the tussle in Lahore between former Prime Minister Imran Khan and the federal government, the Pakistan Military Monitor reported.
Prospects of political instability add to the economic distress as millions began the observance of holy Ramzan under the shadow of a severe earthquake that hit the region on March 21, causing extensive damage, but sparing human lives.
Imran Khan's PTI has the majority support in the legislature. But the party leaders have warned against any bid to topple the government. The risk of punishment after its ministers participated in the confrontation that developed at Khan's Zaman Park residence is real, The Pakistan Military Monitor reported.
Gilgit Baltistan's strong police force, ostensibly there to protect its political bosses, got into a fight with the Islamabad and Punjab Police forces who had come to arrest Khan. After federal information minister Marriyum Aurangzeb went public with the charge, the Inspector General heading the GB Police was replaced.
Syed Sohail Abbas, the region's law minister, has refuted the federal minister's accusations that Gilgit Baltistan Chief Minister Khalid Khurshid Khan used the region's police and resources to protect PTI Chairman Imran Khan.
The police officers in the area, according to the GB chief minister, were for his security in Lahore and not for Imran Khan's security, Dawn reported.
The regional government plans to approach the Supreme Court if there is a move to topple it. Chief Minister Khaled Khan's spokesman Ali Taj has said that any amendment in GB Order 2018 was possible only after approval by the Supreme Court. It will be an undemocratic move to overthrow PTI's Gilgit-Baltistan government which currently enjoys a two-thirds majority in the GB Assembly, The Pakistan Military Monitor reported.
However, GB emerges as a weak link since the federal government has overriding powers. Gilgit's protests at the police chief's replacement without being consulted have gone totally unheeded.
All these developments offer no relief to the neglected northern region that Pakistan illegally occupies and controls.
As it is, the GB leaders holding the office have been accused of rushing to Islamabad and Lahore for the PTI protests, providing political fodder at the national level, and neglecting their responsibilities in Gilgit, The Pakistan Military Monitor reported.
One key task is their failure to convene the state assembly session for the last six months. This has forced the PPP-led opposition to hold protests outside the assembly premises. This was "against the democratic spirit," PPP legislator Shahzad Agha said at the protest meeting.
He said the opposition had no choice but to move a no-confidence motion against the speaker and chief minister if the assembly session was not convened.
He complained that the assembly had been closed since October last year. Members from the opposition and even from the treasury had submitted requisitions many times to debate important issues and legislation.
They alleged that the GB Assembly speaker Amjad Ali Zaidi was not willing to convene the session and the speaker had not sent a summary to convene the assembly session to the governor, The Pakistan Military Monitor reported.
Agha said that while the interests of the GB people were neglected, the provincial government was not allowing even a debate in the legislature. Instead, "the chief minister and his cabinet members are in Zaman Park, Lahore to protect Imran Khan." (ANI)
