LAHORE: Incarcerated Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf leader Dr Yasmin Rashid has stated the Gilgit-Baltistan elections have once again exposed the hypocrisy of the system. “It has, yet again, been proved that all obstacles, restrictions, and pressure are reserved only for the PTI. It has been blocked through illegal and unconstitutional measure,” she stated.

In a statement delivered to the media on Friday, Dr Rashid stated that every possible effort was made to stop Imran Khan in 2024 and he as well as the party’s senior leadership was jailed in petty cases without evidence.

She stated the PTI was deprived of its electoral symbol, a false narrative of anti-state politics was created against it. But on Feb 8 2024, people came out in large numbers and gave their verdict in favour of Imran Khan and PTI.

Now, in the 2026 Gilgit-Baltistan elections, she stated the PTI was facing the same treatment. Every political party except PTI is being allowed to campaign freely.

At this time, she said PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif was also present in Gilgit-Baltistan for campaigning and, as always, “making a failed attempt to gain public support through misinformation and false promises”.

In the heat of his speech, she stated that Nawaz Sharif claimed that no government had carried out development in Gilgit-Baltistan and that not even a single brick had been laid there.

During its tenure, she said the PTI federal government had allocated Rs1 billion for the construction of a new hospital in Skardu. She said the Sehat Card, for which the PML-N Punjab government was making desperate efforts to take credit, was introduced by the PTI and benefited people of Gilgit-Baltistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab and Kashmir.

During Imran Khan’s government, she stated tourism in Gilgit-Baltistan increased tremendously. To promote tourism, she claimed, airfares were reduced by half, which increased employment opportunities for the people of Gilgit-Baltistan and improved their standard of living.

She said during PTI’s government, Gilgit-Baltistan was given provincial-level powers, which enabled it to receive funds and carry out development work.

Published in Dawn, June 6th, 2026