Azad Jammu and Kashmir has a new prime minister after PML-N won the territory’s 2026 general election. On August 28 in Muzaffarabad, Barrister Syed Iftikhar Ali Gilani was elected the 17th prime minister of AJK with 30 votes, defeating PPP’s Sardar Mukhtar Ahmed Abbasi, who received 14, The Express Tribune reported.
The assembly line-up
In direct contests, PML-N won 25 seats and PPP 12. In the 53-member Legislative Assembly, PML-N has 31 members, PPP 14, and an Awami Dast-o-Bazu member also took the oath. PPP’s Chaudhry Muhammad Yasin was named Leader of the Opposition. The election ran from late July into August, with the process concluding in mid-August.
Who is Iftikhar Gilani?
Gilani is a lawyer with a British barrister’s qualification. He entered electoral politics in 2011 with a win in Muzaffarabad, held the seat in 2016 and served as education minister for five years. He lost in 2021 and in the 2026 direct contest but entered the assembly through a technocrat seat.
His nomination by Nawaz Sharif was not without friction: AJK PML-N president Shah Ghulam Qadir, an earlier nominee, did not attend the session, and former prime minister Raja Farooq Haider reportedly had reservations.
His stated priorities
- Livelihoods: creating jobs, which he called his top priority, linked to better education and healthcare.
- Digital economy: widening internet access and digitalising services, saying government jobs cannot be provided to everyone.
- Service reforms: changes in health and education, including a citizen complaints portal.
- Kashmir dispute: pursuing the issue in line with UN resolutions and the right to self-determination.
What to watch
Electricity tariffs, flour prices and public-sector jobs have driven protest movements in AJK in recent years. Early budget and recruitment decisions will show how the new government balances them. Follow our Azad Kashmir section.
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