Elections in GB: Joint opposition to stay away from meeting called by NA Speaker

ISLAMABAD: The joint opposition has decided to stay away from a meeting of the parliamentary leaders convened by the speaker National Assembly on Monday to discuss the upcoming elections in Gilgit-Baltistan.

The NA Speaker, Asad Qaiser, had called the meeting of the parliamentary leaders in the National Assembly on September 28th at the Parliament House, which the opposition parties including the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F), and others, termed as unconstitutional.

In a tweet, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari said that "the Speaker National Assembly and federal ministers have nothing to do with elections in GB."

"We condemn the interference of federal government in the elections. My party will only be engaging with the Election Commission GB on our demands for fair elections," he tweeted.

The PML-N spokesperson, Marriyum Aurangzeb, also announced the party would not take part in the meeting called by the speaker, saying, "The speaker has no right to discuss the election in GB, as it would be unconstitutional."

The JUI-F secretary-general Senator Abdul Ghafoor Haideri termed the meeting of the parliamentary leaders by the speaker as unconstitutional, adding the party would stay away from the meeting.

The NA speaker had earlier written letters to the parliamentary leaders inviting them to attend the meeting to discuss the ongoing debates and concerns with regard to holding of fair and transparent elections in Pakistan as well as in the context of upcoming elections of Gilgit-Baltistan Assembly.

The parliamentary leaders who were invited to attend the meeting include Shah Mahmood Hussain Qureshi, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Shahbaz Sharif, Leader of the Opposition, Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, Asad Mahmood, Chaudhry, Tariq Bashir Cheema, Federal Minister for Housing and Works, Mohammad Akhtar Mengal, Dr Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui, Khalid Hussain Magsi, Ghous Bux Khan Mahar, Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, Federal Minister for Railways, Nawabzada Shazain Bugti, and Amir Haider Azam Khan.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2020