GB-Elections 2026: Court orders re-polling in GBA-17

The Supreme Appellate Court of Gilgit-Baltistan has ordered repolling at affected polling stations in the GBA-17 constituency by overturning a previous decision of the Chief Election Commissioner.

The Chief Justice Sardar Muhammad Shamim Khan set aside the Chief Election Commissioner’s order of 15 June 2026 and suspended an earlier directive allowing the Election Commission (EC) to compile the final election result using the available record.

It is to be remembered that, according to Form 49, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) candidate Muhammad Naseem had been declared the winner with 8,954 votes, while Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazal (F) candidate Haji Rehmat Khaliq was the runner-up with 5,286 votes.

The ballot boxes from six polling stations had been snatched by unidentified persons, and the votes from those stations were not included in Form 47.

The court declared in its ruling that unidentified armed men entered polling stations on election day and seized election materials, and serious electoral irregularities and violations of the law had been proven at eight polling stations.

The judgment also stated that the Chief Election Commissioner had no legal authority to review and reverse his own earlier decision.

The Supreme Appellate Court directed the EC to issue a new election schedule for the affected polling stations.

Separately, the EC in Azad Jammu and Kashmir has extended the deadline for candidates to withdraw their nomination papers in all 45 electoral constituencies by one day.

The spokesperson of the EC said candidates can now withdraw their nomination papers until Saturday, 4 July 2026.

The final list of candidates will be published on 5 July 2026, while election symbols will be allocated on 6 July 2026.

Returning officers (ROs) have received nomination papers from 1,092 candidates contesting the 45 constituencies.