Pakistan's moves on Gilgit Baltistan angers Maryam Nawaz; Army's locus standi questioned

On Wednesday, Pakistan President Arif Alvi approved elections to be conducted for Legislative Assembly of illegally occupied Gilgit Baltistan on vember 15. This is seen as an outcome of a meeting held recently at Pakistan Army's Hequarters (GHQ) in Rawalpindi. Government representatives and opposition leers such as PML(N)'s Shehbaz Sharif, Khawaja Asif, Ahsan Iqbal and PPP's Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and Sherry Rehman participated in discussions with military high command, including Pakistani Army chief General Qamar Bajwa and ISI DG Lt. Gen. Faiz Hameed. 

As per local media reports, re was also a consensus in meeting on making GB a full province of Pakistan. This echoes sentiment expressed by Pakistan's Kashmir and GB Affairs Minister Ali Amin Gandapur who informed Parliament that Imran Khan is likely to make a formal anuncement on his visit to GB. This development comes despite India's consistent stance that Pakistan must vacate all illegally occupied areas of Jammu and Kashmir, including Gilgit Baltistan. 

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Opposition slams military's interference

However, this latest move orchestrated by Pakistan's military establishment came in for criticism from key opposition leer Maryam Nawaz Sharif. Speaking to media in Islamab, PML(N) vice president maintained that GB was a political issue that should be handled by elected representatives. Questioning military's right to take such decisions, she stressed that Parliament was sole competent forum to decide on GB issue. 

Key opposition leer Maryam Nawaz remarked, "I don't kw where dinner was held or t. meeting was called on Gilgit Baltistan issue. Gilgit Baltistan is a political issue. It is an issue that has to be dealt with by government representatives. Such decisions have to be taken in Parliament and t GHQ. I don't kw wher Nawaz Sharif was aware of this meeting or t. ( military) should t call political leers for such an issue. And neir should political leers have gone. Who wants to discuss it can come to Parliament."

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Nawaz Sharif launches scathing attack

Earlier on September 20, Maryam Nawaz's far and former Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif exposed  military establishment's complete interference in democratic process. dressing a conference of opposition parties in Islamab via video conferencing, he lamented that sanctity of people's vote has been always trampled upon by Pakistani Army. To buttress his point, PML(N) leer highlighted that t a single PM has been allowed to complete 5-year tenure in Pakistan's history.

Launching a scathing attack on military, Sharif indicated that former ran a "parallel government" which was more powerful than democratically elected government. He described this phemen as a "state above state". According to him, root cause of Pakistan's problems was military's refusal to accept writ of elected representatives and existence of a parallel government. 

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