GILGIT: Pakistan Muslim League-N chief Nawaz Sharif on Friday lent his support to calls for increased autonomy for the Gilgit-Baltistan Legislative Assembly, saying it should be given powers on a par with the provincial assemblies of Pakistan.

‘We must honour the loyalty and sacrifices of the people of Gilgit-Baltistan by ensuring that their standard of living rises to that of residents of the four provinces of the country,’ he told a gathering of several thousand people at the Lalik Jan Shaheed Stadium in Gilgit, the capital city of the region, on the fifth leg of his electioneering tour to the region.

Preservation of democracy has been the main theme of the PML-N leader’s public addresses during which he has called on voters in Gilgit-Baltistan to pledge their opposition to any future attempt to subvert the Constitution of the country.

Mr Sharif called for thwarting the moves by ‘anti-democracy’ forces to derail the country’s fledgling parliamentary system.

‘We have nothing to do with any minus-formula being propagated by those who wish to derail democracy,’ he said.
 
‘We aren’t demanding the presidency or the government now – the time for that will come later. Now is the time to work for the national interest,’ he said.

Mr Sharif called on the Pakistan People’s Party leadership to grasp the opportunity created by the PML-N’s support for the parliamentary democratic system to repeal the 17th amendment in the Constitution and implement the Charter of Democracy agreed with late Benazir Bhutto.

Turning to issues dominating the campaign for the forthcoming elections in Gilgit-Baltistan on Nov 12, Mr Sharif said he would work with the party’s candidates contesting elections in the two constituencies of Gilgit to bring an end to sectarian strife.

He also pledged to construct roads and bridges to improve the communication system in the region.

Earlier, he visited Ghizer and Hunza. Nawaz Sharif assured the people of Hunza that if the PML-N came into power, they would give additional seat to the picturesque valley in the Gilgit-Baltistan Legislative Assembly.

‘The government should have consulted all stakeholders before announcing the Empowerment and Self-Governance Order,’ the former prime minister said while addressing an election rally in Karimabad.
 
He announced to double the reserved seats in educational institutions and give free education to students from Gilgit-Baltistan in medical and engineering colleges of Punjab.

He said that the PML-N would establish professional educational institutions in Gilgit-Baltistan after coming into power.