GILGIT: The ruling Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf on Monday admitted its candidate’s defeat in the Nagar by-election on Sunday, and said the polling was held in a transparent, free, fair and peaceful manner.

Addressing a press conference in Gilgit on Monday, information minister Fatullah Khan and finance minister Javed Ali Manwa said electoral laws were followed during the by-poll.

Mr Fatullah said the GB government and the election commission had fulfilled their responsibility by providing a level-playing field to all the candidates.

He said no one could accuse the PTI government of influencing the election.

The information minister congratulated the Islami Tehreek Pakistan’s candidate Ayub Waziri for winning the seat.

Fatullah Khan rejected PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari’s rigging allegations in the by-poll.

The PPP candidate had won the seat in the general elections, and the PTI candidate was at the third place.

Finance minister Javed Ali Manwa said GB government fulfilled its promise to conduct the by-election in Nagar in a transparent way.

Mr Waziri defeated PTI candidate Zulfiqar Ali Behashti by a margin of 384 votes.

The seat fell vacant after the opposition leader in the GB Assembly, PPP’s Amjad Hussain Advocate, had resigned from the constituency and retained the Gilgit-I seat.

Published in Dawn, August 10th, 2021