GILGIT: Raja Jalal Hus­sain Maqpoon of the Pakis­tan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) took the oath as the sixth governor of Gilgit-Baltistan on Sunday.

The chief judge of the GB Supreme Appellate Court, Javed Iqbal, administered the oath to Mr Maqpoon during a ceremony held at the Governor House in Gilgit. GB Chief Minister Hafeezur Rehman, members of his cabinet, members of the GB Assembly, local leaders of the PTI and other officials attended the ceremony.

(According to APP, GB Chief Secretary Baber Hayat Tarad read out the presidential order for the appointment of Mr Maqpoon as GB governor during the ceremony).

Currently, GB is being ruled by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz. The GB Assembly’s term will end in 2020.

Mr Maqpoon’s predecessor Mir Ghazanfar Ali Khan was appointed by the previous PML-N government at the Centre. Mr Khan had resigned after the PTI government asked him to quit the office of governor following the party’s victory in the July 25 general elections in the country.

Mr Maqpoon, who was PTI president for the region, was defeated by PML-N candidate Akbar Khan Taban from the Skardu constituency by one vote in the GB Assembly election in 2015.

Speaking after taking the oath of his office, Mr Maqpoon said that as governor he would try to work according to the vision of PTI chairman and Prime Minister Imran Khan.

He said he would try to act as a bridge between the federal and GB governments for bringing about positive changes in the region.

Mr Maqpoon said that after the victory of the PTI in the July elections, the people of GB had seen a change in the country. The PTI government, he said, would remove the sense of alienation and political deprivation among the people of GB.

The newly appointed governor said corruption had become a cancer for the country and stressed the need for eradicating this disease. He vowed to play his role in the fight against corruption.

CM-PM meeting

Meanwhile, GB Chief Minister Rehman is scheduled to meet PM Khan on Tuesday.

According official sources, the prime minister has called the PML-N’s chief minister to discuss GB issues.

It would be the first meeting between the GB chief minister and PM Khan. Analysts term the scheduled meeting very important for GB issues.

After the PTI came to power in Islamabad, the authority of the PML-N government in GB had weakened as the region is under the dominancy of the federal government.

APP adds: Chief Minister Rehman congratulated Mr Maqpoon on becoming the governor of GB and expressed his best wishes.

Published in Dawn, October 1st, 2018