Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Nawaz Sharif has nominated Barrister Syed Iftikhar Ali Gilani as the party’s candidate for the office of Prime Minister of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK).
According to PML-N leader Marriyum Aurangzeb, Nawaz Sharif approved Gilani’s nomination and directed him to submit his nomination papers for the upcoming AJK premier election.
Gilani recently entered the AJK Legislative Assembly through the reserved seat for technocrats. The development came as the PML-N strengthened its position in the assembly by winning six of the eight reserved seats.
The party secured three reserved seats for women, along with seats allocated for technocrats, Ulema and Mashaikh, and overseas Kashmiris. PML-N candidates Seharish Qamar, Maryam Zaman and Maryam Idrees won the women’s seats. The PPP secured the remaining two women’s seats through Farzana Yaqub and Zobia Khurshid.
Gilani won the technocrat seat, while Pir Mazhar Saeed Shah secured the seat for Ulema and Mashaikh. Abdul Rehman Arain was elected to the overseas Kashmiris seat.
Following the reserved-seat results, the PML-N’s strength in the assembly rose to 31 members. With support from one member of the Jammu and Kashmir Awami Dast-o-Bazu, the party has backing from 32 lawmakers.
The PML-N had already emerged as the largest party in the general elections, winning 25 seats, while the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) secured 11.
However, seven assembly seats in Poonch and Sudhnoti districts remain undecided because elections there have yet to take place.
The PPP has raised rigging allegations regarding the elections, while the PML-N has rejected the claims. Nawaz Sharif has urged political stakeholders to avoid turning political differences into personal hostility.
