Election Result
According to Form 47 issued by the Election Commission of Gilgit-Baltistan, PPP candidate Akhtar Abbas Nashad secured 8,399 votes. Meanwhile, independent candidate Wazir Saleem received 8,094 votes. Consequently, Nashad defeated Saleem by a margin of 305 votes and secured victory in the by-election.. The winning margin stood at 305 votes after what election officials and news reports described as a closely contested race.
The constituency recorded an overall voter turnout of 51.79 percent in polling held a day earlier.
The GB Supreme Appellate Court disqualified PPP’s Fida Muhammad Nashad, the father of Akhtar Abbas, who had originally won the seat in the June general elections, prompting the by-election. With his father disqualified, Akhtar Abbas Nashad contested the by-election on the PPP ticket and reclaimed the seat.
District Returning Officer (DRO) Hamza Murad had confirmed ahead of polling that GBA-09 comprised 61 polling stations in total, of which 25 were classified as sensitive under Category A, 11 as medium-sensitive under Category B, and 25 as normal under Category C.
Change in Assembly Strength
With this seat, the PPP’s strength in the 33-member Gilgit-Baltistan Assembly has risen to 15 seats, up from its previous tally of 14. The current composition of the assembly, as reported following the result, stands as follows:
- Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP): 15 seats
- Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N): 9 seats
- Istehkam-e-Pakistan Party (IPP): 6 seats
- Majlis Wahdat-e-Muslimeen (MWM): 1 seat
- PTI-backed independent: 1 seat
What the Result Means for the Assembly Balance
The following reflects political context and analysis, separate from the verified election results above.
The addition of one seat consolidates the PPP’s existing position as the single largest party in the 33-member Gilgit-Baltistan Assembly, where it already leads the region’s government. In a house of this size, individual by-election outcomes can incrementally affect a governing party’s numerical strength relative to opposition parties, which together — the PML-N, the IPP, the MWM and the PTI-backed independent — continue to hold the remaining 18 seats.The Election Commission of Gilgit-Baltistan, the GB government, and opposition parties had not issued any official statement on the broader implications of the result for the assembly’s power balance at the time of this report.
Reactions
At the time of publication, verified news sources had not reported any official statements or on-record reactions from the winning candidate, the runner-up, party leaders, or election officials
Based on official results (Form 47) issued by the Election Commission of Gilgit-Baltistan, corroborated by Dawn, The Express Tribune, The Nation, and Daily Times.
