PML-N's Syed Iftikhar Ali Gillani elected as 17th AJK prime minister 

Muzaffarabad (Web Desk): Barrister Syed Iftikhar Ali Gillani of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) has been elected as Prime Minister of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) after winning 30 of the 44 votes cast in the Assembly on Friday.

Gillani secured a clear victory over Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) nominee Sardar Mukhtar Ahmed Abbasi, who received 14 votes in the race for the region’s highest political office.

The AJK Legislative Assembly has 53 seats in total, but only 46 are currently occupied because elections for seven constituencies in Poonch and Sudhnoti districts have not yet taken place.

Of the 46 existing members, 44 participated in Friday’s election. Assembly Speaker Chaudhry Tariq Farooq stayed out of the voting, while PML-N AJK president Shah Ghulam Qadir was also missing from the house.

Once the ballots had been counted, Speaker Chaudhry Tariq Farooq officially declared Gillani the successful candidate.

The PML-N and its coalition partners currently have 32 members in the AJK Assembly, whereas the PPP has 14 lawmakers.

The AJK elections, initially planned for July 27, were later spread across three stages because of security issues linked to unrest in different parts of the region.

Voting in the first phase took place on July 27, followed by the second phase on August 2 and the third on August 10.

The third stage was originally expected to cover the entire Poonch Division, which consists of 11 constituencies — three located in Bagh, one in Haveli, five in Poonch district and two in Sudhnoti district.

The AJK Election Commission, however, decided that voting would proceed according to schedule only in Bagh and Haveli because of the deteriorating law and order situation.

Across the 38 constituencies where direct elections have so far been held, the PML-N has won 25 seats, while the PPP has captured 12. The sole elected member of the Awami Dast-o-Bazu party has also joined the PML-N.

In the reserved-seat category, the PML-N has obtained six seats, while the PPP has secured two.