Pakistan-administered Kashmir elects new premier

Barrister Syed Iftikhar Ali Gillani of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) was elected prime minister of Pakistan-administered Kashmir on Friday after securing 30 votes in the regional legislature.

Gillani defeated Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) candidate Sardar Mukhtar Ahmed Abbasi, who received 14 votes, Pakistan’s Dawn newspaper reported.

He succeeds PPP leader Raja Faisal Mumtaz Rathore, who had served as prime minister since November 2025. Rathore took office after a no-confidence motion ousted his predecessor, Chaudhry Anwarul Haq.

The 53-member Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Legislative Assembly currently has 46 members, as elections for seven seats in the Poonch and Sudhnoti districts have yet to be held. Forty-four lawmakers participated in Friday’s vote.

The PML-N said on US social media company X that Gillani’s election marked a “new era of development for Azad Kashmir.”

Regional elections, originally scheduled for July 27, were held in phases due to security concerns amid unrest. Voting took place on July 27, Aug. 2 and Aug. 10, while polling in seven constituencies was postponed.

The PML-N has won 25 of the 38 directly elected seats so far, while the PPP secured 12, according to Dawn.

Born in Muzaffarabad in 1980, Gillani studied at SOAS University of London and was called to the bar at Lincoln’s Inn in 2005. He first entered the regional assembly after winning a by-election in 2011.

Gillani retained his seat in 2016 and served as education minister for five years. After electoral defeats in 2021 and this year, he returned to the assembly on Aug. 24 through a seat reserved for technocrats and professionals before being nominated for the premiership.