MUZAFFARABAD: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) nominee Barrister Iftikhar Gilani has been elected the 17th prime minister of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), defeating Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) candidate Sardar Mukhtar Ahmed Khan Abbasi.
A total of 44 votes were polled out of the 46-member assembly. Gilani secured 30 votes, while Abbasi received 14 votes.
The oath-taking ceremony of the newly elected prime minister will be held at the President’s House in Muzaffarabad.
The arrival of former AJK prime minister Raja Farooq Haider at the assembly alongside Iftikhar Gilani attracted considerable political attention. Haider had earlier announced that he would not vote for Gilani.
Nomination Papers Submitted
PML-N’s Barrister Iftikhar Gilani and PPP’s Sardar Mukhtar Ahmed Abbasi had submitted their nomination papers for the office of prime minister.
The election came amid differences within the PML-N over the party’s nominee. PML-N AJK president Shah Ghulam Qadir and former prime minister Raja Farooq Haider had decided not to vote for Gilani.
Shah Ghulam Qadir had earlier been the PML-N’s candidate for the top office, but the party leadership replaced him with Barrister Iftikhar Gilani at the eleventh hour.
However, newly elected AJK lawmaker Dr Mustafa Bashir Abbasi said the PML-N remained united and stood behind the decision of party leader Nawaz Sharif.
He said there had never been any division in the PML-N over Nawaz Sharif’s leadership, adding that minor grievances could exist within the party but did not amount to a political split.
He maintained that all PML-N lawmakers accepted the party leadership’s decision and that reports of divisions capable of affecting the party’s unity were baseless.
Who Is Barrister Iftikhar Gilani?
Barrister Iftikhar Gilani is a seasoned PML-N politician in AJK. He was elected to the AJK Legislative Assembly in 2011 and again in 2016. Following the 2016 elections, he was appointed as education minister in the AJK cabinet.
In the 2026 general elections, Gilani contested the LA-29 Muzaffarabad-III constituency as a PML-N candidate but lost to PPP’s Sardar Mukhtar Ahmed Abbasi.
He later contested the technocrat seat in the elections for reserved seats and won on August 24, securing 26 votes against PPP candidate Sahibzada Zulfiqar Ali, who received 12 votes.
Thus, only weeks after losing the general election, Gilani returned to the AJK Legislative Assembly through a reserved seat and was subsequently nominated by the PML-N for the office of prime minister.
Who Is Sardar Mukhtar Ahmed Khan Abbasi?
Sardar Mukhtar Ahmed Khan Abbasi was born on October 1, 1963. His father was Sardar Fareed Khan Abbasi, and he belongs to Muzaffarabad.
He received his early education in Peshawar and passed his Secondary School Certificate (matriculation) examination from the Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education Peshawar in 1977. He later studied at the Board of Technical Education Peshawar during the 1980 session and obtained a Bachelor of Laws (LLB) degree.
In 1992, his father established a construction company. After 2000, the company began undertaking major development projects in different parts of Pakistan. It has also worked on CPEC-related projects in Balochistan and Sindh, as well as major road and other development projects in AJK.
After completing his education, Abbasi entered professional life while also pursuing politics.
In 2016, he was elected a member of the Azad Jammu and Kashmir Council, where he served for five years.
He contested the 2021 AJK general elections from LA-29 Muzaffarabad-III as an independent candidate. He later joined the PPP AJK and became active in the party’s organisational and political activities, particularly in Muzaffarabad.
He also remained active in the PPP’s political and electoral activities during the 2022 local government elections.
In the 2026 AJK general elections, the PPP once again fielded him from LA-29 Muzaffarabad-III. He won the seat with 20,045 votes, defeating PML-N candidate Barrister Iftikhar Gilani, who secured 16,507 votes.
Abbasi’s political career has included service on the AJK Council, electoral politics and active involvement in PPP organisational affairs. In 2026, he entered the AJK Legislative Assembly as a PPP lawmaker after winning the Muzaffarabad-III constituency.
