Gilani secures 30 votes against PPP candidate Mukhtar Ahmed Abbasi, who received 14 votes in the AJK Assembly election
PML-N backed Azad Jammu and Kashmir PM Barrister Syed Iftikhar Ali Gilani. Photo: Meta
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N)-backed Barrister Syed Iftikhar Ali Gilani was elected the 17th prime minister of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) on Friday.
The election was held during a session of the AJK Legislative Assembly in Muzaffarabad, where Gilani secured 30 votes against Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) candidate Sardar Mukhtar Ahmed Abbasi, who received 14 votes.
PML-N AJK President and former prime ministerial nominee Shah Ghulam Qadir did not attend the session.
Gilani, a qualified lawyer who holds a barrister’s degree from Britain, entered electoral politics in 2011 when he contested the AJK Legislative Assembly elections from Muzaffarabad and was elected as a member.
He retained his seat in the 2016 elections and subsequently served as education minister for five years during the PML-N government in AJK.
Gilani contested the 2021 and 2026 elections but was unsuccessful on both occasions. In 2026, however, he was inducted into the AJK Legislative Assembly on a technocrat seat despite losing the election for that seat.
The PML-N had nominated Gilani as its candidate for the AJK prime minister’s office on Thursday.
This story is being updated.
