MUZAFFARABAD: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) has nominated Dr Najeeb Naqi Khan as its candidate for the presidential election of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), the party said.
Punjab Senior Minister Maryam Aurangzeb said in a post on X that PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif had nominated Najeeb Naqi for the presidency and directed him to submit his nomination papers.
Aurangzeb also congratulated Najeeb Naqi on his nomination for the constitutional post.
The nomination comes as the election in Najeeb Naqi’s own constituency, LA-23 Sudhnoti, is yet to be held.
The AJK Election Commission had postponed elections in LA-23 and six other constituencies scheduled for Aug. 10, citing the law and order situation. The polls have not yet been held.
The PML-N, which secured a majority in the AJK general elections, has distributed the top constitutional offices among the state’s three divisions.
Assembly Speaker Tariq Farooq belongs to the Mirpur division, Prime Minister Iftikhar Gilani is from the Muzaffarabad division, while presidential nominee Najeeb Naqi represents the Poonch division.
AJK Presidential Election Schedule
The office of AJK president has remained vacant since the death of President Barrister Sultan Mahmood Chaudhry last year.
Following his death, then Assembly Speaker Latif Akbar Chaudhry served as acting president until Tariq Farooq was elected as the new speaker after a three-stage electoral process last month.
Farooq later administered the oath of office to Iftikhar Gilani as AJK prime minister.
Following the general elections and formation of the government, the election of the state president remains constitutionally required. Under the AJK constitutional framework, the president is elected by members of the Legislative Assembly.
According to the schedule issued by the Chief Election Commissioner of AJK, nomination papers will be submitted and scrutinised on Sept. 19.
Candidates can withdraw their nomination papers on Sept. 23, while the presidential election will be held on Sept. 24 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Assembly Secretariat in Muzaffarabad.
Who Is Dr Najeeb Naqi Khan?
Dr Muhammad Najeeb Naqi Khan was born in Rawalpindi on Jan. 19, 1964. He is the grandson of Colonel Khan Muhammad Khan, a prominent figure associated with the Kashmir freedom movement, and the brother-in-law of PML-N leader and former federal minister Khurram Dastgir.
He received his early education at Aitchison College and earned an MBBS degree from King Edward Medical University in 1988.
Najeeb Naqi entered politics in 1990 following the death of his father, Colonel Naqi Muhammad. He was elected to the AJK Legislative Assembly in 1996 and served in the opposition.
In 2001, he was elected to the Kashmir Council. He later returned to the AJK Legislative Assembly in 2006 on the PML-N AJK platform and served as health minister.
During his political career, Najeeb Naqi has been elected to the assembly five times and has held ministerial portfolios including health, education, finance, development and planning.
He has also focused on development and basic services in Sudhnoti. His political career included efforts to secure district status for the area and advance development projects.
He also played a role in increasing AJK’s development budget and preparing action plans for various development projects.
Najeeb Naqi belongs to the Sudhan tribe. His family has a longstanding association with politics and public service in AJK. His father, Colonel Muhammad Naqi Khan, served as a member of the AJK Assembly and held the portfolios of health and food, while his grandfather Khan Muhammad Khan was known as the “Baba-e-Poonch.”
