Deeply concerned over 'deliberate restrictions on women's voting' in Gilgit Baltistan election: PPP Senator Sherry Rehman
Nov 16, 2020
Islamabad [Pakistan], November 16 : Pakistan Peoples' Party (PPP) Senator Sherry Rehman said Sunday she is deeply concerned over the "deliberate restrictions on women's voting" in the Gilgit Baltistan Election 2020, and voiced worry over alleged rigging at the polling stations, Geo News reported.
Rehman said that the attempts to prevent women exercise their right to vote in the Gilgit Baltistan Election 2020 are "unacceptable". She also urged GB Chief Election Commissioner Raja Shehbaz Khan to intervene in the matter.
On the possibility of the elections getting rigged, the PPP Senator further said that the observers of the Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN), a non-profit NGO, had been removed from the polling booths.
Taking to Twitter, she said, "GB Election Commission needs to let the election observers into the polling stations, ESPECIALLY during counting of votes, as that is what they are there for. @_FAFEN has 600 observers there; they need to be inside. Only 30 minutes to close."
"The absence of observers at the polling station raises questions about the transparency of the election," Geo News quoted Rehman as saying.
In an earlier tweet, she said, "How are some form 45s filled before polling closes! Let observers into the polling stations and GB Election Commission, act NOW! This is open, flagrant rigging."
Meanwhile, PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz in a statement had also called on the Election Commission to "make the process of voting and counting of votes transparent", Geo News reported.
The voting process in the region began at 8 am and continued until 5 pm without any interval.
The elections were held amidst protests by people of Gilgit Baltistan against the Pakistan government's "illegal occupation" in the region.
