MUZAFFARABAD (Kashmir English): Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s (PML-N) Barrister Iftikhar Gillani has been elected as the 17th Prime Minister of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) on Friday, defeating PPP candidate Sardar Mukhtar Ahmed.
The election was held during the AJK Legislative Assembly, chaired by the newly elected Speaker Chaudhry Tariq Farooq.
A total of 44 votes were polled out of 46 members of the House, with Gilani securing 30 votes, while PPP’s Mukhtar Ahmed Abbasi received 14 votes.
Apart from the speaker, PML-N AJK president Shah Ghulam Qadir didn’t cast his vote and missed the assembly session due to a reported grievance with the party leadership over Gillani’s nomination for the post.
The AJK Assembly comprises 53 members, but its present strength is 46, including PML-N’s 32 and PPP’s 14. Elections to seven seats in Poonch and Sudhnoti districts have yet to be held.
After the votes were counted, Speaker Chaudhry Tariq Farooq announced the result, declaring Gillani as the winner amid clapping and slogans from the galleries.
On this occasion, Farooq congratulated the newly elected Leader of the House and expressed hope that the Leader will live up to the people’s trust. “This House will play an important role in strengthening the ideological and intellectual ties with Pakistan,” he added.
The oath-taking ceremony of the newly elected prime minister will be held at the President’s Office in Muzaffarabad.
PML-N internal drift
The election also attracted political attention after former AJK prime minister Raja Farooq Haider arrived at the Legislative Assembly alongside Iftikhar Gilani.
Earlier, reports had indicated that Raja Farooq Haider and PML-N AJK President Shah Ghulam Qadir had decided not to vote for Gilani following differences over the nomination for the top office. However, former AJK premier Farooq Haider joined the proceedings after meeting with Gillani.
Shah Ghulam Qadir had earlier been considered the PML-N’s candidate for the AJK premiership, but the party leadership subsequently nominated Barrister Iftikhar Gilani.
Newly elected assembly member Dr Mustafa Bashir Abbasi rejected reports of a serious rift within the PML-N, saying that the party remained united and all members respected the decision of PML-N leader Nawaz Sharif.
He said minor disagreements could occur within any political party, but when it came to important party decisions, PML-N members stood together.
Who is Iftikhar Gilani?
Barrister Iftikhar Gilani is a senior PML-N politician with extensive experience in AJK politics. He was elected to the AJK Legislative Assembly in 2011 and 2016 and subsequently served as Education Minister in the AJK cabinet after the 2016 elections.
In the 2026 general elections, Gilani contested from LA-29 Muzaffarabad-III but lost to PPP’s Mukhtar Ahmed Abbasi.
He later returned to the assembly through the reserved technocrat seat. In the August 24 election, Gilani secured 26 votes, defeating PPP candidate Sahibzada Zulfiqar Ali, who received 12 votes.
Within weeks of losing the general election, Gilani returned to the Legislative Assembly and was subsequently nominated by the PML-N for the prime minister’s office.
In the 2026 AJK general elections, Abbasi contested from LA-29 Muzaffarabad-III on a PPP ticket and won with 20,045 votes, defeating PML-N’s Iftikhar Gilani, who received 16,507 votes.
Despite his victory in the constituency, Abbasi could not secure enough support in the Assembly to win the prime ministerial election.
With Gilani’s election, the PML-N has secured the leadership of the AJK government, while the PPP will continue its role as a major opposition force in the Legislative Assembly.
