Gilani secures 30 votes against PPP candidate Mukhtar Ahmed Abbasi, who received 14 votes in the AJK Assembly election
PML-N backed Azad Jammu and Kashmir PM Barrister Syed Iftikhar Ali Gilani. Photo: Meta
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N)-backed Barrister Syed Iftikhar Ali Gilani was elected the 17th prime minister of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) on Friday.
The election was held during a session of the AJK Legislative Assembly in Muzaffarabad, where Gilani secured 30 votes against Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) candidate Sardar Mukhtar Ahmed Abbasi, who received 14 votes.
PML-N AJK President and former prime ministerial nominee Shah Ghulam Qadir did not attend the session.
Gilani, a qualified lawyer who holds a barrister’s degree from Britain, entered electoral politics in 2011 when he contested the AJK Legislative Assembly elections from Muzaffarabad and was elected as a member.
He retained his seat in the 2016 elections and subsequently served as education minister for five years during the PML-N government in AJK.
Gilani contested the 2021 and 2026 elections but was unsuccessful on both occasions. In 2026, however, he was inducted into the AJK Legislative Assembly on a technocrat seat despite losing the election for that seat.
The PML-N had nominated Gilani, elected to the AJK Legislative Assembly on a technocrat seat, as its candidate for the AJK prime minister’s office on Thursday.
Read: PML-N takes command as AJK Assembly sworn in
A day earlier, PML-N leader and Punjab Senior Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb announced that Barrister Gilani had been nominated as the party’s candidate for the office of AJK PM.
Earlier this week, Nawaz Sharif had nominated Shah Ghulam Qadir as the party’s candidate for the top office in AJK after PML-N secured a majority in the AJK elections held in three phases between July 27 and August 10. Of the 45 directly contested constituencies, polling was held in 38, with the PML-N securing 25 seats and the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) winning 12.
In a post on social media platform X, Aurangzeb said that Gilani had been nominated for the office of AJK prime minister following consultations within the party leadership.
The development, however, triggered differences within the PML-N’s AJK chapter. PML-N AJK President Shah Ghulam Qadir expressed reservations over Gilani’s nomination. Qadir said that he would neither vote for Gilani nor attend Friday’s (today’s) session of the Legislative Assembly called to elect the prime minister.
Reportedly, former AJK prime minister Raja Farooq Haider also expressed reservations over the nomination of Gilani as the AJK PM.
According to party sources, Qadir and Haider conveyed their reservations during a meeting held at the Prime Minister’s House in Islamabad on Wednesday in the presence of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
Sources said the PML-N AJK president is expected to consult senior party leaders and workers before announcing his future political course.
Also Read: Nawaz nominates Barrister Syed Iftikhar Ali Gilani for AJK premier
The reported differences added an unexpected twist to the PML-N’s government-formation process in AJK, where the party emerged as the largest parliamentary group.
At the beginning of the current week, on August 24, forty-six newly elected members of the AJK Legislative Assembly took the oath, formally marking the start of the new parliamentary term following the 2026 general elections.
Assembly Speaker Latif Akbar administered the oath to the newly elected lawmakers during the inaugural session of the new assembly. The oath-taking ceremony reflected the changed political balance in the 53-member AJK Legislative Assembly, with the PML-N emerging as the dominant parliamentary force.
A total of 31 PML-N assembly members took the oath, along with one member of the Awami Dast-o-Bazu, while 14 members of the PPP also took the oath, according to the initial proceedings.
