• Bilawal promises governance, ownership, and employment rights for locals
• In Gilgit, Nawaz laments lack of development, seeks chance to ‘serve the region’

GILGIT: Political bigwigs on Tuesday sought to garner public support in Gilgit-Baltistan (GB), with PML-N President Nawaz Sharif and PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari addressing rallies in the region ahead of the June 7 elections.

Addressing a public gathering in Skardu, where Aseefa Bhutto-Zardari was also present, the PPP chairman called for greater rights for the people of GB.

“I have to struggle along with GB’s new generation […] If we have to implement the manifesto of roti, kapra, makaan in its true sense, then we will have to work on three rules — we will have to attain the right to haq-i-hakimiyat (right to govern), haq-i-malkiyat (right to ownership), and haq-i-rozgaar (right to employment),” he said.

He further said, “The struggle of PPP’s new generation will be to get you your right to govern, and that will happen when GB will get the protections, facilities and powers provided in the 18th Amendment.”

“After the right to govern, we need the right to ownership. All this land from the mountains to the river […] are the resources of the people of GB. Until Islamabad agrees, neither GB nor Islamabad will progress. They will have to accept that this land, resources, and minerals are yours,” Mr Bhutto-Zardari asserted.

The PPP leader said the people of GB had to decide on June 7 whether they wanted to elect a “public-friendly government” or an “anti-public” one, asserting that the PPP had a “track record of three generations of forming pro-poor governments”.

He also pledged to launch the Gilgit-Baltistan People’s Housing Initiative if the PPP wins the upcoming elections.

Speaking about free healthcare, Mr Bhutto-Zardari remarked, “Other political parties privatise their own hospitals so that their rich friends can earn more”, adding that it is the government’s duty to provide free healthcare to the people.

Referring to the electricity shortage in GB, the PPP chairman said the region has adequate natural resources to not only produce sufficient power, but also provide the excess capacity to other parts of the country.

‘My heart cries’

Earlier in the day, ex-premier Nawaz Sharif reached Gilgit on a one-day visit and lamented the lack of development in the region.

“I am speaking to you after many years. Isn’t that the case? Perhaps you have forgotten me,” the elder Sharif said while addressing the public in Gilgit, prompting roaring chants in his support.

The PML-N chief lamented the lack of development in the region.

“When I saw the condition of the roads after exiting the airport, I couldn’t even describe it. It hurt me immensely. Where is the Gilgit that I used to know?” he said.

Noting there were “so many potholes”, Nawaz Sharif recalled that the PML-N had in the past worked on constructing roads and asked why the project was not extended to Gilgit as originally planned.

“I do not want to speak against any party or government, but my heart urges me to ask them that you got the chance to serve this country, then why did you ignore this area?” the ex-premier asked. He added that the PML-N did not seek votes by criticising other parties, but rather based on the work it did.

“The road that I had started was not built up to here, it should have been and then built further till Khunjerab,” he said, highlighting that building the road till Skardu had cost Rs50 billion.

The ex-premier highlighted that the PML-N government had constructed hospitals, power plants and hydel power plants.

The PML-N president assured GB residents that he would hold a meeting with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and ask him to expand the airport so that commercial jets could operate there. He highlighted that there was great potential for generating hydel and solar electricity in the region. Noting loadshedding of over 20 hours in winters and of up to 12 hours in summers, he said, “It is unacceptable to me.”

Nawaz said that regardless of whether the PML-N wins the elections or not, “we cannot keep you deprived of these things”, vowing to speak to PM Shehbaz about electricity outages in GB.

The PML-N supremo said he will urge both PM Shehbaz and his daughter, Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz, to visit GB, also pledging to visit the region every two to three months if his party is elected.

Nawaz also mentioned his last ouster during his speech, recalling that he had formed a committee as the prime minister in 2017 on GB’s share in the National Finance Commission (NFC) Award.

“Do not complain to me. I am not ready to hear this grievance because this is your fault as well. Why did you let a person like me be exiled,” he said.

Published in Dawn, June 3rd, 2026