MUZAFFARABAD (Kashmir English): Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) has nominated Barrister Syed Iftikhar Gilani as its candidate for the post of Prime Minister of Azad Jammu and Kashmir.
Gilani, a member of the Azad Kashmir Legislative Assembly elected on a technocrat seat, comes from a prominent political family in Muzaffarabad and has experience in law, education, and parliamentary politics.
Legal and political career
Barrister Iftikhar Gilani received his early education in Islamabad before moving to London for higher studies. He completed his Bar-at-Law degree from a leading UK institution and subsequently returned to Pakistan, where he practiced law in Islamabad for around a decade.
His family is regarded as one of the founding political families of the PML-N in Azad Kashmir. Gilani entered electoral politics on the PML-N platform and won his first Legislative Assembly seat in the 2011 general elections.
He retained his seat in the 2016 general elections on the PML-N ticket, defeating his rival Khawaja Farooq Ahmed by a significant margin.
In the 2011 elections, he was elected to the Azad Kashmir Legislative Assembly for the first time on a PML-N ticket. Gilani later won re-election to the Legislative Assembly, defeating Khawaja Farooq Ahmed by a clear margin in the 2016 elections.
He also served as Education Minister and introduced several reforms in the education sector, including the National Testing Service-based recruitment mechanism to promote merit and transparency.
Gilani nominated
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) on Wednesday nominated Barrister Iftikhar Gilani for the post of Prime Minister of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK).
The name was finalised during an important consultative meeting regarding government formation in AJK, chaired by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif at PM House in Islamabad.
Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Political Affairs, Senator Rana Sanaullah, and senior PML-N leader Khawaja Saad Rafique attended the meeting.
PML-N AJK President Shah Ghulam Qadir, former AJK PM Raja Farooq Haider, newly elected Speaker AJK Chaudhry Tariq Farooq, Deputy Speaker Ahmed Raza Qadri, and Barrister Iftikhar Gilani were also present in the meeting.
During the meeting, the upcoming parliamentary strategy and government formation issues were discussed. The PML-N leadership also consulted on the formation of the new cabinet and government priorities.
Barrister Iftikhar Gilani was elected from the technocrat seat. He also contested the election from LA-29 Muzaffarabad-III but failed to win a seat in the Assembly. PPP candidate Sardar Mukhtar won after securing 20,045 votes, while Gilani received 16,507 votes.
PM election postponed
Moreover, sources said that the election for Prime Minister in the Azad Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly was postponed and will be held on August 28.
The nomination papers for the election of the Prime Minister will now also be submitted on Friday. The Legislative Assembly session will begin at 2 pm, Secretary AJK Legislative Assembly Amjad Latif Abbasi said.
