ISLAMABAD: Weeks after getting a clear majority in Gilgit-Baltistan Legislative Assembly (GBLA) elections 2020, Prime Minister Imran Khan, who is also chairman of the Pakistan Tehree-e-Insaf (PTI), on Friday nominated Barrister Khalid Khurshid as the next chief minister of Gilgit-Baltistan.

The prime minister finalised the name of Barrister Khurshid after a meeting with party chief organiser Saifullah Niazi at the Prime Minister's House. Khurshid was elected a member of the Gilgit-Baltistan assembly from the GBLA-13 (Astor-1) in November 15 elections.

The election for the slot will be held on Monday between Khalid Khurshid and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP)'s candidate Amjad Hussain. Earlier, the prime minister had called an emergency meeting on Friday to finalise the names of the chief minister and other cabinet members for Gilgit-Baltistan.

Federal Minister for Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit-Baltistan Ali Amin Gandapur was also summoned from Gilgit to Islamabad for the purpose. The PTI has already grabbed the coveted slots of speaker and deputy speaker as Syed Amjad Zaidi and Nazir Advocate of the PTI coalition have been elected as speaker and deputy speaker GBLA, respectively.

Barrister Khurshid and Fatehullah Khan were the potential candidates for the position of Gilgit-Baltistan's chief minister. Sohail Abbas will likely head the Board of Revenue, while Shams Lone will be given the portfolio of food ministry.

Meanwhile, Javed Manawa will likely be the next GB's finance minister, and Raja Nasir Abbas is likely to be given the portfolio of Sports, Culture, and Tourism. Wazir Kaleem and Raja Azeem will likely be the next ministers for the department of works and education, respectively.

The PTI had grabbed 10 seats in the general elections. However, after gaining the support of six independent winners, and allotment of six reserved seats, the PTI secured 22 out of the 33 seats in the assembly.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2020