PML-N's Iftikhar Gilani elected 17th AJK prime minister

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Iftikhar Gilani has been elected as the 17th prime minister of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK).

Gilani secured 30 votes, while Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) candidate Sardar Mukhtar Khan received 14 votes in the election held in the AJK Legislative Assembly.

Gilani was first elected to the AJK Legislative Assembly in 2011 and has also served as the region’s education minister. He was elected to the AJK Legislative Assembly on a PML-N ticket on a technocrat seat in the recent elections.

PML-N had finalised Barrister Iftikhar Gilani as its candidate for AJK prime minister during a key consultative meeting on government formation in the region.

The meeting was attended by Rana Sanaullah, Khawaja Saad Rafique, Shah Ghulam Qadir, Raja Farooq Haider, newly elected Speaker Chaudhry Tariq Farooq, Deputy Speaker Ahmed Raza Qadri, Barrister Iftikhar Gilani and other party leaders.

PML-N currently has 32 members in the AJK Legislative Assembly, while the PPP has 14 members. Elections on seven seats are yet to be held.