GILGIT: The five-year constitutional term of the current Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) government will end on 24 November, after which the GB Assembly will stand dissolved.
According to GB Assembly sources, Chief Minister Haji Gulbar Khan will step down from office at midnight on 24 November, and his cabinet will automatically cease to function.
Sources explained that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) formed the government following the 2020 elections. Former Chief Minister Khalid Khurshid, elected on 1 December 2020, was removed from office on 4 July 2023 after being disqualified in a fake degree case.
He served 2 years, 7 months, and 4 days in power. After his disqualification, PTI’s forward bloc member Haji Gulbar Khan was elected Chief Minister on 13 July 2023. With the end of the Assembly’s five-year tenure approaching, preparations for the formation of a caretaker government have accelerated.
GB Assembly sources revealed that several declared and behind-the-scenes contenders are active for the post of caretaker Chief Minister.
The names of Raja Nazim-ul-Amin, Brig (R) Basharat, Sher Bahadur Anjum, Muhammad Ali Qaid, and Waqar Manduk are being considered as potential candidates. Meanwhile, Johar Ali Raqi, Mir Mustafa Madani, Muhammad Hassan Hasrat, and Ghulam Abbas are among several others already in the race. Despite multiple meetings, the Chief Minister and the Leader of the Opposition have not yet agreed on a final name.
Both the government and opposition lists include the names of Raja Nazim-ul-Amin and Brig (R) Basharat as mutually acceptable options.
If consensus is not reached between the Chief Minister and the Opposition Leader, the authority to nominate the caretaker Chief Minister will shift to the Prime Minister of Pakistan.
