Political bigwigs attempt to sway Gilgit-Baltistan as electioneering heats up ahead of June 7 polls

Political bigwigs on Tuesday sought to garner public support in Gilgit-Baltistan (BG) as PML-N President Nawaz Sharif and PPP Chairman Bilawal-Bhutto Zardari addressed rallies ahead of the June 7 elections. General elections in GB are scheduled for Sunday, after a four-month delay attributed to harsh winter weather. Addressing a public gathering in Skardu, where First Lady Aseefa Bhutto-Zardari was also present, Bilawal called for greater rights for the people of GB. “I have to struggle along with GB’s new generation […] If we have to implement the manifesto of roti, kapra, makaan in its true sense, then we will have to work on three rules — we will have to attain the right to haq-i-hakimiyat (right to govern), haq-i-malkiyat (right to ownership), and haq-i-rozgaar (right to employment),” Bilawal said. He further said, “The struggle of PPP’s new generation will be to get you your right to govern, and that will happen when GB will get the protections, facilities and powers provided in the 18th Amendment.” Bilawal had begun his speech by condemning Israeli attacks on Iran. Recalling the US-Israel’s deadly strikes on Iran, including one that killed students at a school, as well as the assassination of supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Bilawal said it did not seem “appropriate to run an election campaign” in an elaborate manner. “I toured GB on foot in the last elections. I wanted to do the same this time,” he said, adding that there was an “air of grief” for the people in GB and him. The PPP chairman praised Pakistan’s ongoing efforts for peace in the region, including the role played by CDF Munir. “It is extremely important that the effort for peace succeeds, because the people of Iran and Palestine and the entire Muslim world are bearing the burden of this war, but at the same time, the entire world’s youth are also facing that burden,” he said, noting the conflict’s economic impact and the resulting inflation. The Bhutto scion asserted that the PPP was the “onl