PTI’s Qaiser barred from going to GB

ISLAMABAD: The opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) said on Saturday that senior party leader Asad Qaiser was prevented from reaching Islamabad airport, causing him to miss a flight to Skardu where he was due to campaign ahead of elections in Gilgit-Baltistan (GB).

The allegation comes a day after PTI lawmaker Junaid Akbar and members of his team were expelled from GB while campaigning for legislative elections scheduled for June 7.

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Qaiser, who is also a fomer speaker of National Assembly, said Punjab police blocked access routes to the airport and prevented him from entering the premises.

“The Punjab police kept me under detention until the flight departed,” Qaiser said in a post on X.

He further said the restrictions not only caused him to miss his flight but also disrupted travel for other passengers.

Qaiser described the incident as political victimisation and an attempt to interfere in the electoral process, alleging that PTI was being prevented from campaigning freely in GB.

Videos posted by Qaiser showed long queues of vehicles near the airport entrance. Other footage appeared to show him speaking to police officers and urging them to allow stranded passengers to proceed.

PTI spokesman Sheikh Waqas Akram said federal ministers were actively campaigning in GB while opposition leaders faced restrictions.

“Running an election campaign by sitting ministers is a clear violation of the election’s code of conduct, but unfortunately the electoral watchdog is silent,” he said.

The PTI’s opposition leader in Senate Raja Nasir Abbas condemned the alleged obstruction, calling it a violation of democratic freedoms.

He said leaders from PTI and Tehreek-e-Tahffuz-e-Aain-e-Pakistan (TTAP), an alliance of opposition parties, were being targeted while members of other parties continued campaigning.

“If leaders of a specific party are deprived of their democratic right to campaign, claims of transparent elections and political equality lose credibility,” Abbas said in a statement.

Former opposition leader in National Assembly and senior PTI leader Omar Ayub described the incident as “pre-poll rigging”, alleging broader efforts to influence the outcome of the election.

Political parties, including the PML-N and the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), have intensified campaigning ahead of the GB elections, which are being held after a four-month delay.

On Friday, PTI said lawmaker Junaid Akbar and several other PTI MNAs and MPAs were briefly detained and later expelled from Ghizer district in GB.

The GB government denied any arrests had taken place, saying the group had been removed for allegedly violating the election code of conduct.

Separately, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi said caretaker GB Chief Minister Yar Muhammad had not responded to his calls as he wanted him to take notice of PTI lawmakers’ expulsion from GB.

A spokesman for GB government said Yar Muhammad was attending a medical appointment at the time and later returned the call, but Afridi was unavailable.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2026