ISLAMABAD: The PTI on Saturday accused the Centre and the Gilgit-Baltistan government of pre-poll rigging by deploying thousands of police and security officials in the region ahead of the regional elections.

In a statement, PTI Information Secretary Sheikh Waqas Akram claimed that besides 5,600 local police officials, over 13,000 additional personnel from other parts of the country were deployed in the region that has around 900,000 voters. It may be noted that the Punjab government approved the deployment of 6,000 police officials for GB last week.

He criticised the unprecedented deployment and “systematic suppression” of the PTI, claiming that 11,000 officials from Punjab Police, 1,000 from Sindh Police, 700 from Frontier Constabulary (FC), and 140 from ICT Police were deployed for election duties. “This overwhelming presence of external forces, far exceeding the local population’s requirements…[is] to seize control of polling stations, disrupt the voting process with the help of local proxies, and engineer a pre determined outcome on election day,” he alleged.

“This massive influx of police is not for maintaining peace but for orchestrating large-scale rigging. The Form-47 government is deliberately pushing the peaceful region of Gilgit-Baltistan into an atmosphere of fear and hatred by attempting to prevent genuine voters from exercising their right to vote for PTI,” he added. He alleged that the systematic pre-poll rigging has reached alarming proportions, with internet services and landlines suspiciously disrupted across Gilgit. He also claimed that PTI workers have been arrested in Gilgit city over the last two days as the situation improved for PTI candidates, while some of its ticket-holders were offered bribes to leave the party.

“The PTI election symbol was arbitrarily banned. A last-minute alliance with the Gilgit Baltistan Democratic Party was sabotaged when its symbol was abruptly withdrawn at midnight via a single text message to Returning Officers, without any written orders or legal justification from the Election Commission,” he claimed.

He called upon the international community, human rights organisations, and all democratic forces to take notice.

The PTI also expressed its concern over the Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) government’s decision to declare the Jammu Kashmir Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC) a proscribed organisation.

“[The PTI] strongly believes that political, social, and constitutional grievances must be addressed through democratic engagement, meaningful dialogue, and constitutional means, not through bans, coercion, or the use of force,” it added.

Published in Dawn, June 7th, 2026