MUZAFFARABAD (Dunya News) – Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) candidate Barrister Iftikhar Gilani has been elected as the new prime minister of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK).
Gilani secured 30 votes in the election to become the 17th PM of AJK, defeating Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) candidate Mukhtar Khan Abbasi, who received 14 votes.
However, PML-N's enraged leader Ghulam Qadir skipped the voting and party meeting.
Apart from the Speaker of the legislative assembly, 44 members present in the House participated in the voting.
Barrister Iftikhar Gilani was elected to the Azad Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly on a technocrat seat on the PML-N ticket in the recent elections.
Gilani first elected as member of AJK Legislative Assembly in 2011. He has also previously served as the education minister of Azad Jammu and Kashmir.
A day earlier, PML-N finalised Barrister Iftikhar Gilani as its candidate for prime minister slot, following consultations on forming a new government in the region.
The decision was taken during a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif at the Prime Minister's House in Islamabad, where participants discussed the formation of the new PML-N government in Azad Kashmir.
Senator Rana Sanaullah, Khawaja Saad Rafique, PML-N Azad Kashmir President Shah Ghulam Qadir and former Azad Kashmir prime minister Raja Farooq Haider attended the meeting.
Newly elected Speaker Chaudhry Tariq Farooq, Deputy Speaker Ahmed Raza Qadri and Gilani, who was elected from the technocrat seat, also took part in the discussions.
The meeting considered the future parliamentary strategy as well as the formation of the new cabinet, government priorities, good governance and measures to improve government affairs.
The election for prime minister of the Azad Kashmir Legislative Assembly is scheduled for Aug 28.
Gilani's nomination comes as the PML-N moves to finalise its government following the recent legislative developments in Azad Kashmir.
This is a developing story...