GILGIT: Following inte­nse political manoeuvrings and persuasions, Giligt-Baltistan got a new chief minister on Thurs­day, a week after PTI’s Khalid Khurshid was disqualified in a fake degree case.

Haji Gulbar Khan, an estranged PTI member, took the oath of office after he was elected as chief minister with the support of PPP, PML-N and JUI-F.

GB Governor Syed Mehdi Shah administered the oath to the newly elected chief minister. The ceremony in the Governor House was att­ended by GB Assembly members, senior officials and supporters of political parties.

Earlier during the voting in the GB assembly, Mr Gulbar secured 19 out of 20 votes, while Raja Azam Khan, who was endorsed by ex-CM Khurshid, boycotted the election.

PTI’s estranged member was supported by PPP, PML-N, JUI-F

Of the 32-member house, only 20 were present during the session to vote for chief minister. Javed Ali Manwa, who was leading one of the three forward blocs within the PTI, also boycotted the election.

One PPP member was not present in the house during the vote while 10 members from PTI, Majlis Wahdat-i-Muslimeen and Islami Teh­reek boycotted the election.

At the start of session at around 12:30pm, speaker Nazir Ahmed asked members in support of Mr Gulbar to gather on one side.

Subsequently, 19 of the 20 members present inside the house expressed support for Mr Gulbar. Of them, 12 belong to a PTI forward bloc, three from PML-N, three PPP and one from the JUI-F. The Independent member Nawaz Khan Naji abstained from voting.

In his address, Mr Naji accused Islamabad of “manipulating the political process in GB”.

He alleged that a government has been formed in GB with interference from the central government.

Mr Naji said local assembly members had no say in the process and they were being influenced by the federal government.

“Such practices would be harmful,” he said, adding the assembly members should condemn this action.

Speaking in the house after his election, Mr Gulbar thanked Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, PPP leader Asif Ali Zardari, JUI-F emir Maulana Fazlur Rehman and all members who voted for him.

“My health is not well and despite that, I have been trusted. I will utilise my energy and experience for the prosperity, development and peace of GB”.

Mr Gulbar announced that a coalition government has been formed in GB with the support of opposition parties and a PTI forward bloc.

Haji Gulbar Khan belongs to a political family of Tangi, Diamer. He started his political career as a member of the District Council in 2004.

Belonging to the Diamer district, Gulbar had served as GB health minister during the previous PTI government as well as in 2010-2011 as a JUI-F member.

He took oath as a GB Assembly member on Nov 15, 2020, after being elected from the GBA-16 Tangi Diamer-IV constituency of the Darel district.

Political manoeuvrings

Ahead of the election, three forward blocs had emerged within the PTI, led by Mr Gulbar, Mr Manwa and Mr Azam.

PM Sharif, after consultation with PDM and PPP leadership, nominated Mr Gulbar as a candidate for the chief minister.

But local leaders of both PML-N and PPP were not happy with the choice of a disgruntled PTI leader as the CM candidate.

Earlier this week, two PPP leaders, Advocate Amjad Hussain and Shah­zad Agha, resigned from their assembly memberships and announced boycotting the elections.

This forced PPP central leader and PM’s Adviser on Kashmir Affairs and GB Qamar Zaman Kaira to arrive in the region and hold meetings to evolve a consensus for the formation of a coalition government. He had tried to convince Mr Hussain and Mr Agha to withdraw resignations.

Published in Dawn, July 14th, 2023