Parliamentary leaders' meeting on GB polls called off

ISLAMABAD: The parliamentary leaders’ meeting convened by the NA speaker on Monday to discuss Gilgit-Baltistan elections and electoral reforms has been cancelled, ARY News reported.

The NA secretariat has confirmed the cancellation of a meeting of parliamentary leaders.

Sources said the meeting was cancelled due to a lack of cooperation from opposition parties and a new date of the meeting will be announced later after consultation.

National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser had convened a meeting of the parliamentary leaders of all the parties on Sept 28 at the Parliament House to discuss election reforms and to seek proposals for ensuring transparency in the upcoming elections in Gilgit-Baltistan.

However, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F) yesterday had announced to boycott the parliamentary leaders meeting convened by the NA speaker.

Read More: GB polls: PPP, JUI-F boycott parliamentary leaders’ meeting

Taking to Twitter, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said that National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser and federal ministers have nothing to do with elections in GB.

“We condemn the interference of the federal government in the elections. My party will only be engaging with the Election Commission GB on our demands for fair elections,” he tweeted.

He said that his party would only stay in touch with the Gilgit-Baltistan Election Commission regarding the demands of transparent elections