MIRPUR/ISLAMABAD – Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) nominee Barrister Iftikhar Hussain Gilani was elected Prime Minister of Azad Government of the State of Jammu and Kashmir on Friday, defeating his lone rival, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) candidate Mukhtar Abbasi, who secured 14 votes.
Gilani emerged as the 17th prime minister in the parliamentary history of Azad Jammu and Kashmir since the introduction of the parliamentary system in 1975. He was nominated for the top slot by PML-N President and former Prime Minister of Pakistan Muhammad Nawaz Sharif on Thursday and subsequently filed his nomination papers for the election held during a special session of the newly elected AJK Legislative Assembly in Muzaffarabad, chaired by Speaker Chaudhry Tariq Farooq.
Barrister Gilani, who was elected to the 53-member AJK Legislative Assembly on a technocrat seat on August 24, later took oath as prime minister at the President House. Acting President of AJK Chaudhry Tariq Farooq administered the oath at a ceremony attended by senior government and political figures, lawmakers, party workers and representatives of various sections of civil society, including journalists, lawyers, business leaders, religious and social activists and workers of the Kashmir freedom movement.
Meanwhile, former PML-N presidential candidate for the premiership and AJK party president Shah Ghulam Qadir remained absent from the special session, reportedly in protest over being overlooked for the coveted position.
“We have to take all the steps to ensure employment, so that our youth do not follow any other path, but rather a path that gives them respect, employment and a better future,” Gilani said in an address after taking the oath.
He said AJK faced governance and unemployment challenges and that his government would also focus on education and health care, arguing that progress in those areas could ease many of the pressures facing people in the region.
Gilani called for cooperation among lawmakers and said his government would draw on the experience of senior members and the determination of younger legislators to deliver on its commitments.
“We all need to walk together,” he said.
Gilani’s elevation to the premiership comes after an election process that was originally scheduled to take place across AJK on July 27 but was later divided into phases because of security concerns.
Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif on Friday congratulated Barrister Iftikhar Gilani on his election as the Prime Minister of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), expressing hope that he would play an active role in the development and prosperity of the region.
The prime minister said the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s (PML-N) victory in AJK was the result of the efforts of the party leadership, particularly former prime minister and PML-N leader Nawaz Sharif, as well as the party workers, a Prime Minister’s Office news release said.
The prime minister expressed confidence that Barrister Iftikhar Gilani would work vigorously for the development of AJK and the welfare of its people.
PM Shehbaz Sharif reaffirmed that the federal government would continue to extend all possible cooperation for the development, prosperity and improved living standards of the people of Azad Jammu and Kashmir.
He also welcomed the continuation of the democratic process in AJK, describing it as a positive development.
Interestingly, PPP’s Mukhtar Abbasi, who was defeated by Gilani in Friday’s election for prime minister, had defeated him in the second phase of the 2026 AJK general elections held on August 2 through direct adult franchise. With Gilani’s election, the number of premiership terms under the parliamentary system in AJK has reached 17, following 16 completed terms since 1975. Former prime ministers include Khan Abdul Hamid Khan, Sardar Sikandar Hayat Khan, Raja Mumtaz Hussain Rathore, Sardar Abdul Qayyum Khan, Barrister Sultan Mahmood Chaudhry, Sardar Attique Ahmed Khan, Sardar Muhammad Yaqoob Khan, Raja Muhammad Farooq Haider Khan, Chaudhry Abdul Majeed, Sardar Abdul Qayyum Khan Niazi, Sardar Tanveer Ilyas, Chaudhry Anwar-ul-Haq and Raja Faisal Mumtaz Rathore. Sikandar Hayat Khan, Attique Ahmed Khan and Farooq Haider Khan served two terms each, while the latest election makes Gilani the 17th premier in the territory’s parliamentary history.
Shah Ghulam Qadir, who had been widely regarded as a strong contender for the premiership, has served twice as Speaker of the AJK Legislative Assembly and also held ministerial and opposition leader positions. He was previously elected from Valley-4 Rawalpindi before shifting his electoral base to Neelum Valley after 2011. Qadir won from Neelum Valley in the 2016 and 2021 elections and secured a third consecutive victory in the 2026 polls, defeating his nearest PPP rival. His absence from Friday’s session added a notable political dimension to Barrister Iftikhar Gilani’s election and the formation of the new AJK government.
