MUZAFFARABAD — Barrister Iftikhar Gilani has been sworn in as the 17th Prime Minister of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, winning Friday’s legislative assembly vote with a comfortable 30-14 margin.
The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) lawmaker secured his victory over Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) nominee Sardar Mukhtar Khan, who managed to gather only 14 votes from assembly members.
Background of the New AJK Premier
Gilani is no newcomer to AJK politics. He entered the AJK Legislative Assembly for the first time in 2011 and later took charge as the region’s education minister. His current term in the assembly comes through a reserved seat allocated for technocrats.
His path to the premiership was set in motion just a day before the vote, when PML-N President Nawaz Sharif formally put forward Gilani’s name as the party’s official candidate for the AJK Prime Minister post.
How the Numbers Stacked Up
The AJK Legislative Assembly is designed to hold 53 members, though it is currently functioning with only 46, since polls for seven seats across Poonch and Sudhnoti districts have not yet taken place.
Within this reduced house, the PML-N entered the contest with a strong position, commanding 32 votes through its own members along with support from coalition partner Jammu and Kashmir Awami Dast-o-Bazu (JK ADB). The PPP, by comparison, held the backing of 14 assembly members.
With Friday’s result, Gilani now takes over leadership of the region at a time when several assembly seats remain unfilled, a factor that could shape future legislative business in AJK.