Voting concludes in Pakistan’s Skardu-III constituency by-election
Voting has concluded in Pakistan in the GBA-09 Skardu-III electoral constituency by-election. Polling stations operated from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., with voting held at all 61 stations under heightened security measures.
As Dawn reports, the constituency had 33,985 registered voters. A local holiday was declared for polling day to facilitate voters’ participation in the election and support its peaceful conduct.
Reason for the by-election
The Gilgit-Baltistan Election Commission scheduled the by-election after the Gilgit-Baltistan Supreme Appellate Court disqualified PPP candidate Fida Muhammad Nashad. He had previously been declared elected following the general elections in June.
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Nashad’s son, Akhtar Abbas, ran for the PPP, while Muhammad Ajmal represented the PML-N. Among the 10 candidates was former minister Muhammad Saleem, who ran as an independent candidate.
Security measures
According to district election officer Hamza Murad, 25 of the 61 polling stations were classified as sensitive Category A. Another 11 stations were placed in Category B, with a medium level of sensitivity, while 25 were assigned to regular Category C.
Analysts cited by the publication expected a competitive contest between Abbas and independent candidate Saleem.
