In Pakistan, Attaullah Shah wins in Diamer by a margin of 13 votes — Dawn
In Pakistan, Pakistan Peoples Party candidate Attaullah Shah won the election to the Gilgit-Baltistan Assembly in constituency GBA-16 (Diamer-II) after the scrutiny and counting of postal ballots. According to the final Form-49 released by the Gilgit-Baltistan Election Commission, Shah received 6,618 votes — 13 more than his nearest rival, Imam Malik of the Istehkam-i-Pakistan party, Dawn reports.
Postal ballot scrutiny
Initially, the election commission declared Malik elected from this constituency. He ran as an independent candidate in the June elections and later joined Istehkam-i-Pakistan.
Last week, his membership in the Assembly was suspended after Shah filed a petition with the election tribunal. The petition alleged that the election official had issued Form-49 without counting the postal ballots.
In a decision dated September 11, the tribunal ordered the scrutiny and counting of postal ballots to be completed by September 16 and temporarily suspended Malik’s membership in the Assembly.
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Counting under security
The scrutiny and counting of ballots began on Sunday under heightened security measures. According to the election commission, Malik and Pakistan Muslim League — Nawaz candidate Muhammad Anwar were not present at the procedure either personally or through authorized representatives.
The procedure was conducted in accordance with Article 235 of the Elections Act 2017 in the presence of Gilgit Senior Civil Judge Fahad bin Naqib, Chief Court Assistant Registrar Raja Mir, and Deputy Election Commissioner Muhammad Ali. Malik’s supporters waited outside the election commission secretariat throughout the night, while Shah’s supporters later gathered there to celebrate his victory.
The Gilgit-Baltistan Supreme Appellate Court was due to hear on Monday Malik’s appeal against the election tribunal’s decision to suspend his membership in the Assembly.
