Gilgit (C.R. Akbar Shah): Nowadays, the Governor House secretariat in Gilgit-Baltistan looks like an abandoned palace, mostly because of the vacant position of governor. Despite a lapse of two months after the resignation of former governor GB Raja Jalal, the federal government has failed to appoint a governor.
Governor acts as a bridge between the federal government and provincial government. The importance of a governor’s role further increases when the provincial and central governments are led by two rival political parties. Despite having a similar situation in GB, the appointment of the governor is yet to be made.
This delay in the appointment of a new governor has created problems related to legislation and the execution of other high-level matters. Different bills passed by the former GB Legislative Assembly are still pending in the Governor’s secretariate awaiting the governor’s approval.
Private Schools Regulatory Bill and Press Foundation Bill are two examples of the bills passed by GBLA awaiting their final approval from the governor.
Being a representative of the federation, the governor is appointed with the approval of the prime minister of Pakistan. However, the main reason attributed to the delay in the appointment of a new governor is a lack of consensus between the coalition parties at the center.
According to sources, the main reason is a deadlock between Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and PML(N) over which party should have the governor in GB. Both parties, despite sharing power at the center and sitting in opposition in GB Legislative Assembly have failed to reach a settlement in this regard.
The senior leaders of PML(N) GB recently have demanded the appointment of a local leader within their party to the post of governorship. They had said they would not accept the appointment of any other person except a unanimously recommended local leader of PML(N). On the contrary, there has been no such demand from PPP’s local leadership so far.
