Muzaffarabad, August 28, 2026: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) candidate Barrister Syed Iftikhar Ali Gillani was elected Prime Minister of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) on Friday, securing 30 votes in the 53-member Legislative Assembly.
Gillani defeated his Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) rival Sardar Mukhtar Ahmed Abbasi, who received 14 votes in the election for the region’s top executive office.
The AJK Assembly has a constitutional strength of 53 members, but its current strength stands at 46 as elections to seven seats in Poonch and Sudhnoti districts remain pending. The present composition includes 32 PML-N members, including its allies, and 14 PPP members.
A total of 44 votes were cast in Friday’s election, as Assembly Speaker Chaudhry Tariq Farooq did not exercise his right to vote, while PML-N AJK President Shah Ghulam Qadir was absent from the proceedings.
Following the counting of votes, Speaker Chaudhry Tariq Farooq announced Gillani as the successful candidate amid applause and slogans from the visitors’ galleries.
Gillani succeeds PPP’s Chaudhry Latif Akbar, who had assumed the AJK premiership in November 2025.
Gillani nomination triggers party tensions
Gillani’s nomination followed an internal PML-N decision that briefly exposed differences within the party’s AJK leadership.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif announced Gillani’s nomination late Wednesday night after a meeting with senior PML-N leaders from AJK at the Prime Minister’s House in Islamabad.
The meeting was attended by PML-N AJK President Shah Ghulam Qadir, former AJK prime minister and former party president Raja Farooq Haider, PML-N AJK Secretary General and AJK Assembly Speaker Chaudhry Tariq Farooq, and Deputy Speaker Ahmed Raza Qadri.
The prime minister was accompanied by his political aide Rana Sanaullah and senior PML-N leader Khawaja Saad Rafique.
Gillani had also been invited to the meeting but did not attend. During the meeting, Shehbaz Sharif informed the visiting leaders that PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif had decided to nominate Gillani as the party’s candidate for the AJK premiership.
The decision reportedly drew opposition from Qadir and Haider, who expressed reservations over the nomination and indicated that they would not participate in the election.
Ultimately, however, only Qadir remained absent from Friday’s proceedings, while Haider appeared in the Assembly alongside Gillani.
Qadir had earlier expressed his opposition publicly, saying in a late-night post on X that he would not compromise on the honour and dignity of the people of AJK and would uphold Nawaz Sharif’s slogan of “respect for the vote”.
Following the disagreement, Rana Sanaullah and Saad Rafique held another meeting with Qadir and Haider in an attempt to resolve the differences, but the talks reportedly remained inconclusive.
The leadership speculation had intensified after Gillani was elected on a reserved seat on August 24. There had been expectations within the party’s regional leadership that the formula followed in 2016, when Raja Farooq Haider was elevated as prime minister, could be repeated.
However, PML-N central information secretary and Punjab senior minister Marriyum Aurangzeb announced on Thursday that Prime Minister Shehbaz had finalised Gillani as the party’s candidate and directed him to submit his nomination papers for the AJK premiership.
PML-N dominates AJK Assembly
Gillani’s election comes after a phased AJK electoral process held amid security concerns and unrest in parts of the region.
The elections, initially scheduled for July 27, were conducted in three phases on July 27, August 2 and August 10.
The third phase was initially planned for all 11 constituencies of Poonch Division, including three seats in Bagh, one in Haveli, five in Poonch district and two in Sudhnoti. However, the AJK Election Commission restricted polling to Bagh and Haveli because of the law and order situation.
In the direct elections held so far for 38 constituencies, the PML-N has secured 25 seats, while the PPP has won 12. The sole elected member of the Awami Dast-o-Bazu Party has also joined the PML-N camp.
On the reserved seats, the PML-N has secured six seats compared with two won by the PPP.
With 32 members, including its allied member, the PML-N entered Friday’s election with a clear numerical advantage over the PPP.
PPP alleges election irregularities
The PPP has alleged widespread rigging and irregularities in the AJK elections, rejecting the electoral process and raising questions over the conduct of polling.
The allegations are expected to remain a key political issue as the newly elected AJK government begins its tenure.
Gillani now faces the task of forming his administration and addressing governance, economic development and infrastructure challenges in AJK while managing political differences within his own party and responding to opposition criticism over the electoral process.
