At Ghizer rally, Bilawal urges voters to give PPP ‘heavy mandate’ to safeguard region’s rights
PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on Thursday urged Gilgit-Baltistan voters to give his party a “heavy” mandate by securing a majority in order to safeguard the region’s rights. Bilawal was addressing a rally in Ghizer, amid a series of rallies across GB as the PPP and other political parties have, over the past few days, ramped up efforts to garner support ahead of the polls. Referring to the nine seats the PPP had won in the last GB elections, Bilawal claimed other seats had been stolen. However, this time, “no one can steal seats from you, and this means that all three of Ghizer’s seats will be yours,” he added. Of other political parties in the running, he said the party wanted a “heavy majority in GB — not for me, but for you” so that together they could complete Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s and Benazir Bhutto’s “incomplete” mission in the region. The PPP chairman highlighted the achievements of those that came before him, including Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s subsidies that continued to benefit the region and Benazir Bhutto’s giving Ghizer the status of a district. President Asif Ali Zardari, he added, had given GB its Assembly, identity, governor and chief minister: “now it is my turn and yours”. “It is the new generation’s responsibility to get more rights for GB,” he said, adding that he wanted the mandate from the region so that he could demand that Islamabad listen to the wishes of the GB people “before making any other provinces”. More to follow