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PTI forward bloc leader Gul Bar Khan elected Gilgit Baltistan’s chief minister

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  • 19 votes of 20 members present in house vote for him.
  • PPP and PML-N lawmakers also vote for Gul Bar.
  • Polls were triggered after Khursheed’s removal.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) forward bloc leader Gul Bar Khan was elected as Gilgit Baltistan’s new chief minister on Thursday, days after controversy marred the top post’s polls.

Gul Bar, who received 19 votes of the 20 members present in the house, was elected unopposed as three other candidates vying for the post withdrew their nomination papers.

An independent lawmaker, Nawaz Khan Naji, abstained from voting, with Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s (PML-N) parliamentarians backing the new CM.

All 11 members of the PTI’s ‘like-minded group’ boycotted the polling, claiming rigging.

The election for the coveted post was triggered after the region’s top court disqualified former CM Khalid Khursheed was disqualified for holding a fake degree.

Following his removal from office, the PTI divided into two factions — the forward bloc and the like-minded or ‘humkhayal‘ group, which boycotted the election.

Gul Bar — a brief profile

The newly-elected chief minister hails from the region’s Diamer district.

When GB’s first assembly elections took place in 2009, he contested on Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam’s ticket and got elected to the parliament.

The PPP, which formed a coalition government in the region, brought him on as the health minister.

In 2015, he could not become a member of the assembly as a PML-N candidate defeated him.

Fast forward to 2020, he was elected on PTI’s ticket and became the health minister once more — this time under the leadership of ex-CM Khursheed.

Following Khursheed’s removal, he formed the PTI’s forward bloc and got elected as the chief minister on July 13.

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Imran Khan’s bail request in the Toshakhana-II case has had its objections dismissed.

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In the Toshakhana-II case, the Islamabad High Court has dismissed the objections to PTI founder Imran Khan’s bail request.

IHC instructed the registrar’s office to schedule the hearing for the case for Monday.

Imran Khan’s attorneys, Shaheena Shahab, Ayesha Khalid, and others, arrived in court today as IHC Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb heard the case.

The registrar’s objections to the plea were questioned by Justice Aurangzeb. In the Toshakhana-II case, Imran Khan submitted a bail application, according to counsel Ayesha Khalid.

Justice Miangul said that previous rulings in circumstances comparable to this one adhered to the consistency principle. In this instance, the petitioner was a man, he added.

Bushra Bibi was given bail because she was a woman, according to the justice, and an application like this one was denied yesterday.

Given that the case action date was November and the power of attorney was executed in July, Justice Aurangzeb raised a concern about the timing.

Justice requested the help of Advocate Shah Khawar in this case.

When an applicant was held in jail, Shah Khawar retorted that it was standard procedure to obtain signatures on required documents, such as a power of attorney.

Imran Khan’s attorney, Shaheena Shahab, asked the court to send out notices regarding the bail plea. A judge named Aurangzeb said that the law would be observed.

Following arguments, the court dismissed the registrar office’s objections and ordered that the case hearing be scheduled for Monday.

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PTI presents seven nominations to Imran Khan for the judicial commission.

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Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has proposed seven individuals to its founder, Imran Khan, for consideration as founding members of PTI for membership in the next Judicial Commission.

None of the nominated individuals are attorneys; rather, the roster includes four Members of the National Assembly (MNAs) and three senators.

The proposed MNAs are Umar Ayub, Asad Qaiser, Ali Mohammad Khan, and Aamir Dogar, while the senators are Shibli Faraz, Mohsen Aziz, and Aun Abbas Bapi. Sources suggest that the Judicial Commission will include one opposition member from both the National Assembly and the Senate.

The PTI founder will evaluate and endorse two names from the suggested list, which will then be sent to the Speaker for future actions.

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Miller confirmed that Biden’s administration got a letter from a congressman requesting the release of the PTI founder.

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Following his removal as prime minister in 2022, Khan started a protest movement against a coalition of his enemies led by current Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. Since then, he has been in jail since August 2023 and has been involved in hundreds of cases.

In response to ARY News’ question over the congressmen’s letter during a media briefing in Washington on Monday, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller stated, “We will respond in due course to the members.”

The United States wants to see Pakistan maintain its democracy, Miller stated.

The release of the PTI founder’s wife and sisters was a result of a meeting between the US Deputy Assistant Secretary and a Pakistani government representative in Islamabad, which was further questioned during the press briefing.

“I won’t be addressing that,” Miller said when asked if the United States was involved in their release. Miller did, however, affirm that the conference included the defense of Pakistan’s basic liberties and rights.

Sixty-two members of the US Congress urged President Joe Biden on October 24 to support the release of Imran Khan, the former prime minister of Pakistan, and other political prisoners.

The congressmen, who included well-known Muslim members Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar, said in their letter that the Biden administration should ask Pakistani authorities to guarantee the safety of PTI founder Imran Khan.

They also underlined that US policy should concentrate on Pakistan’s human rights situation and asked that US ambassadors attend the PTI leader’s incarceration.

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