Elections were held on 12 November 2009 in the province of Gilgit-Baltistan for the first time to elect the first Assembly of Gilgit-Baltistan.

Background

The region of Gilgit-Baltistan was formerly known as Northern Areas. The Northern Areas were formed by joining

Gilgit Agency The Gilgit Agency ( ur, ) was an agency of the British Indian Empire consisting of the subsidiary states of the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir at its northern periphery, mainly with the objective of strengthening these territories against ...

and Baltistan regions in 1970 but the Northern Areas were ruled directly from

Islamabad Islamabad (; ur, , ) is the capital city of Pakistan. It is the country's ninth-most populous city, with a population of over 1.2 million people, and is federally administered by the Pakistani government as part of the Islamabad Capital ...

. In 2009 the

Government of Pakistan The Government of Pakistan ( ur, , translit=hakúmat-e pákistán) abbreviated as GoP, is a federal government established by the Constitution of Pakistan as a constituted governing authority of the four provinces, two autonomous territorie ...

passed an Autonomy Order known as Gilgit-Baltistan Empowerment and Self-governance Order, 2009 which was signed by the President of Pakistan

Asif Ali Zardari Asif Ali Zardari ( ur, ; sd, ; born 26 July 1955) is a Pakistani politician who is the president of Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarians and was the co-chairperson of Pakistan People's Party. He served as the 11th president of Pakist ...

in September 2009.

Campaign and Polling

264 candidates out of which 99 from 10 different political parties and 165 independent candidates contested for 24 seats across Gilgit-Baltistan. Voting took place on 12 November 2009 on Morning 9 AM to 4 PM without any break. 1022 polling stations were set up across Gilgit-Baltistan out of which 200 polling stations were considered sensitive. 5000 law enforcement personnel was hired for security.

Result

The

Pakistan People's Party The Pakistan People's Party ( ur, , ; PPP) is a centre-left, social-democratic political party in Pakistan. It is currently the third largest party in the National Assembly and second largest in the Senate of Pakistan. The party was founded i ...

emerged as the largest party in the assembly by winning 20 seats out of 33. The assembly members took oath on 10 December 2009 and

Syed Mehdi Shah Syed Mehdi Shah is a Pakistan Politician who is currently Serving as the Governor of Gilgit Baltistan and Previously was the first Chief minister of Gilgit-Baltistan. The post was created under Presidential Order For Govrnance 2009 for Gil ...

became the 1st

Chief Minister of Gilgit-Baltistan Chief Minister of Gilgit Baltistan is elected by the Gilgit Baltistan Assembly to serve as the head of the provincial government in Gilgit-Baltistan for a five-year term. The current Chief Minister is Khalid Khurshid, who was elected on 1 Decembe ...

unopposed.

References

{{Gilgit-Baltistan elections Elections in Gilgit-Baltistan 2009 elections in Pakistan