{"id":1179,"date":"2026-06-04T17:48:57","date_gmt":"2026-06-04T17:48:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/diplomag.com.pk\/?p=1179"},"modified":"2026-06-04T17:48:58","modified_gmt":"2026-06-04T17:48:58","slug":"bilawal-seeks-strong-ppp-mandate-in-ghizer-to-protect-regions-rights","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/diplomag.com.pk\/index.php\/2026\/06\/04\/bilawal-seeks-strong-ppp-mandate-in-ghizer-to-protect-regions-rights\/","title":{"rendered":"Bilawal seeks strong PPP mandate in Ghizer to protect region\u2019s rights"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

SKARDU<\/strong>: PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on Thursday urged Gilgit-Baltistan voters to give his party a \u201cheavy\u201d mandate by securing a majority in order to safeguard the region\u2019s rights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bilawal was addressing a rally in Ghizer, amid a series of rallies across GB as the PPP and other political parties have, over the past few days, ramped up efforts to garner support ahead of the polls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Referring to the nine seats the PPP had won in the last GB elections, Bilawal claimed other seats had been stolen. However, this time, \u201cno one can steal seats from you, and this means that all three of Ghizer\u2019s seats will be yours,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of other political parties in the running, he said the party wanted a \u201cheavy majority in GB \u2014 not for me, but for you\u201d so that together they could complete Zulfikar Ali Bhutto\u2019s and Benazir Bhutto\u2019s \u201cincomplete\u201d mission in the region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The PPP chairman highlighted the achievements of those who came before him, including Zulfikar Ali Bhutto\u2019s subsidies that continued to benefit the region, and Benazir Bhutto\u2019s granting Ghizer district status. President Asif Ali Zardari, he added, had given the region its assembly, identity, governor and chief minister, saying: \u201cNow it is my turn and yours.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt is the new generation\u2019s responsibility to secure more rights for GB,\u201d he said, adding that he wanted a mandate from the region so that he could ensure Islamabad listened to the wishes of the GB people before creating any other provinces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bilawal particularly stressed the need for a PPP majority, including all three Ghizer seats, in order to pursue the right of sovereignty promised to the people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He noted that 28,000 square kilometres of land in GB had previously belonged to the state, saying that it was due to the people of GB, the PPP and its assembly members that legislation was passed in the assembly to render it \u201cyour land, common land\u201d according to law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe people that say the PPP does not deliver on their promises \u2014 remind them that we have been in politics for three generations,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd for three generations we have had a record of being true to our word; when we make promises we deliver on them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He added: \u201cNow what\u2019s left? I want to deliver on this legislation. If I don\u2019t get a government, if I don\u2019t get all three of these seats in Ghizer; if I don\u2019t get the seats in Baltistan, all of Gilgit, all of the Diamer division; if I am stopped from installing my chief minister, then I know that whether it is the PML-N or another party, they will tear up our legislation like a piece of paper. They will not deliver on it and my promise will remain incomplete.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bilawal also highlighted the right of ownership as a key reason to vote for the PPP, stating that the party wanted to grant ownership of arable land to the people of the region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He also highlighted the Sindh People\u2019s Housing for Flood-Affectees (SPHF) programme, in which two million houses were being built for flood-affected people with ownership of the houses and land being given to the people themselves. He termed the venture the \u201cbiggest land transfer in Pakistan\u2019s history\u201d since the land reforms made by his grandfather, adding that it had created one million jobs in Sindh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He declared his intention to establish a similar housing scheme in GB, starting from Ghizer, to support those affected by natural disasters and flooding in the region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alongside the right to sovereignty and ownership, the PPP chairman also reaffirmed his commitment to the party\u2019s third promise \u2014 the \u201cright to employment\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He compared the PPP with other parties, stating that while PPP politicians competed to see who could create the most jobs \u2014 \u201cwhether in government, the private sector, public-private partnerships, abroad, through technical education or skills\u201d \u2014 other political parties instead competed \u201cto see how many people they can make unemployed\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAfter the PPP government left, no provincial government in GB has given jobs \u2014 they have been stolen,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He described this as the \u201cfoundational difference\u201d between the PPP and other parties: \u201cThe PPP gives employment; they steal employment.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bilawal pledged that if elected, the PPP would do everything possible to create job opportunities in both the public and private sectors, particularly for unemployed youth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the same time, he stressed that these opportunities would be merit-based. To avoid any suspicion of bias, he said he intended to use artificial intelligence (AI) as a tool for examining and selecting candidates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bilawal has spent the last few days addressing campaign rallies in the region, including a rally in Shigar on Monday where he stated that any new constitutional amendment should provide protection to the rights of GB.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He also addressed a public gathering in Skardu on Tuesday where he called for greater rights for the region. There, the Bhutto scion asserted that the PPP was the \u201conly party that represents the underprivileged and the poor\u201d, and emphasised that the country could only develop once the working class and the youth were economically empowered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Additionally, speaking in Diamer on Wednesday, he vowed to address the resettlement concerns of those affected by the construction of the Diamer-Bhasha Dam on an \u201cimmediate basis\u201d if his party was elected. He added that had President Asif Ali Zardari\u2019s government not been removed in 2013, the dam would have been built by now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

General elections in GB are scheduled for Sunday, after a four-month delay attributed to harsh winter weather.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SKARDU: PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on Thursday urged Gilgit-Baltistan voters to give his party a \u201cheavy\u201d mandate by securing a majority in order to safeguard the region\u2019s rights. Bilawal was addressing a rally in Ghizer, amid a series of rallies across GB as the PPP and other political parties have, over the past few days, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1052,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,16,2],"tags":[],"ppma_author":[27],"class_list":["post-1179","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-latest","category-national","category-pakisstan"],"authors":[{"term_id":27,"user_id":3,"is_guest":0,"slug":"afnanwasif","display_name":"Web Desk","avatar_url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/cbec8328241e98fefcd32e00f20f7a6b502086a0b95d395db4b1565c51681914?s=96&d=mm&r=g","author_category":"1","first_name":"Web","last_name":"Desk","user_url":"","job_title":"","description":""}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/diplomag.com.pk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1179","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/diplomag.com.pk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/diplomag.com.pk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diplomag.com.pk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diplomag.com.pk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1179"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/diplomag.com.pk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1179\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1180,"href":"https:\/\/diplomag.com.pk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1179\/revisions\/1180"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diplomag.com.pk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1052"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/diplomag.com.pk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1179"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diplomag.com.pk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1179"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diplomag.com.pk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1179"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diplomag.com.pk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=1179"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}