GILGIT: As many as 396 candidates will vie for 24 seats in the Gilgit-Baltistan elections today (Sunday) amid strict security arrangements made by the regional government with the deployment of thousands of police officials from across Pakistan.
The GB Assembly has 33 seats — 24 of which are contested through direct elections, six are reserved for women, and three are reserved for technocrats and professionals. Polling in the 24 constituencies of the GB Assembly across the region will run from 8am to 5pm.
Of the 396 candidates, 266, including five women, are contesting as independents. Only eight women are participating in the contest overall. The total number of registered voters in the 10 districts of the region is 963,034, including 566,097 male and 396,937 female voters.
According to a list issued by the GB Election Commission, a total of 1,391 polling stations have been established across the region, of which 488 are categorised as normal, 349 as sensitive and 551 as highly sensitive. Diamer, with 119 highly sensitive polling stations out of a total of 174, has the highest number of such stations among all districts. As part of the security arrangements, 6,000 Punjab police personnel and 2,000 from the Islamabad police — including 150 personnel from its security division — have been assigned election duty in the mountainous region.
Party breakdown
PPP has 23 candidates, PML-N has 22, Istehkam-i-Pakistan Party has 15, Pakistan Muslim League-Q 11, Tehreek-i-Islami Pakistan has 10, Pakistan Nazaryati Party also has 10, while nine candidates from the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl are contesting the elections.
Majlis Wahdat-i-Muslimeen has seven candidates in the running. Six candidates each from the Jamaat-i-Islami and the MQM will also contest the elections, besides four candidates from the Awami Workers Party and one nominee from the Awami National Party. One candidate from the Sunni Ittehad Council will also contest the election. Also, the PPP, IPP, and the PNP nominated one woman each.
GB Chief Election Commissioner Raja Shahbaz Khan has issued a notification delegating the powers of a first-class magistrate to all district returning officers and returning officers to ensure peaceful, transparent and lawful conduct of the Gilgit-Baltistan Assembly General Elections 2026.
Raja Shahbaz said that strict implementation of election laws, adherence to the election code of conduct and transparency of the election process will be ensured at all costs so that free, fair and impartial elections can be held while upholding the trust of the people. In a statement, GB Caretaker Minister for Information and Broadcasting Ghulam Abbas has appealed to the people to fully participate in the electoral process and exercise their right to vote, as the vote is the voice of every citizen and the foundation of a democratic system.
Ghulam Abbas said that elections are an important pillar of any democratic society and the active participation of the people is the guarantee of the promotion of strong democratic traditions.
Published in Dawn, June 7th, 2026
