Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) has nominated veteran Kashmiri politician Shah Ghulam Qadir as the next prime minister of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) following consultations among the party’s senior leadership.
PML-N President Nawaz Sharif finalised Qadir’s nomination after a four-hour consultation with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz in Lahore last week.
Party sources confirmed on Tuesday that Qadir is expected to take oath as prime minister on Thursday at 5pm at the High Court Ground in Muzaffarabad.
The AJK elections were conducted in three phases between July 27 and August 10. Polling took place in 38 of the 45 directly contested constituencies, with the PML-N winning 25 seats and the Pakistan Peoples Party securing 12. The sole MLA belonging to the Awami Dast-o-Bazu party subsequently joined hands with the PML-N.
Qadir brings more than three decades of political and parliamentary experience to the position. He has served as minister for Finance, Planning and Development and as minister for the Department of Food, while also holding the position of speaker of the AJK Legislative Assembly twice.
He currently serves as president of PML-N’s AJK chapter and leader of the Opposition and holds a master’s degree in political science.
Born into a Kashmiri family with ancestral roots in Srinagar, Qadir began his political career with the All Jammu and Kashmir Muslim Conference.
He later rose through the party ranks and served as its secretary general during Sardar Abdul Qayyum Khan’s presidency before eventually joining the PML-N and becoming one of its most prominent political figures in AJK.