Haji Gulbar Khan elected new GB chief minister unopposed

PTI Forward Bloc leader Haji Gulbar Khan was elected as new chief minister of Gilgit Baltistan unopposed on Thursday, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.

The election of the new chief minister, however, was not as smooth as it was expected. Before the polling process, two candidates of the like-minded group along with their supporters boycotted the voting.

In total, other three candidates Raja Azam Khan, Javed Ali Manwa and Raja Muhammad Zakria Maqpoon boycotted the election process.

The development cleared the way for Haji Gulbar Khan to be elected as new leader of the house in the GB Assembly with the support of PDM.

After his election, Chief Minister Gulbar Khan, who secured 19 out of 20 votes, expressed his commitment to work for peace and prosperity of Gilgit-Baltistan. He thanked all the members who voted for him.

Earlier, the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) and PPP had announced its support for the candidate of a forward bloc in Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) for the slot of Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) chief minister.

Parties in the PDM including Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI), and the PPP announced that they will vote for Haji Gulbar Khan.

Yesterday, four candidates submitted their nomination papers for the election of the Leader of the House in the Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) Assembly.

Raja Azam Khan of Like-Minded Group, Ayub Waziri of Islami Tehreek Pakistan and Haji Gulbar Khan of PTI Forward Bloc were among the candidates for the GB chief minister’s slot.

No member of the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) submitted the nomination papers for the new Leader of the House in the GB Assembly.

Reporter: Mehtabur Rehman