GB chief minister election halted

GILGIT: The Supreme Appellate Court in Gilgit Baltistan Wednesday ordered to stop the election for the new chief minister.

Hearing a petition submitted by one Haji Gilbar, the top court on Wednesday issued a stay order against the election for the new CM. A schedule to elect the new chief minister of Gilgit Baltistan was also issued on Wednesday. In a major development, the police on Wednesday sealed the Gilgit Baltistan Assembly after surrounding the building. According to sources, there is a possibility of the arrest of two PTI members of the assembly. Some PTI members are wanted in different cases, the sources added.

On Tuesday, the Gilgit Baltistan Chief Court disqualified Khalid Khursheed Khan as the chief minister of the region over allegedly obtaining a license from the bar council on the basis of a fake degree.

Meanwhile, opposition in the Gilgit Baltistan (GB) Assembly submitted a no-confidence motion against Speaker Nazir Advocate a day after the Chief Court disqualified the chief minister. Opposition forwarded its no-trust motion bearing the signatures of several members. PTI, on the other hand, nominated Raja Azam Khan as its candidate for the seat of the Leader of the House.

Meanwhile, Raja Azam Khan submitted his nomination papers in the Assembly while from the opposition side, Amjad Advocate and Muhammad Anwar submitted their nomination papers for the seat of prime minister. On July 4, 2023, Gilgit Baltistan Chief Court disqualified Khalid Khursheed Khan as the chief minister for allegedly possessing a license from the bar council on the basis of a fake degree.

A three-member bench, headed by Judge Inayatur Rahman, passed the order on a petition seeking the CM’s disqualification. PPP’s Ghulam Shahzad Agha, a member of the GB Assembly, through his counsel Amjad Hussain, had challenged Khursheed’s degree. Meanwhile, the federal government appointed Afzal Mahmood Butt as the new Inspector-General of Police (IGP), in Gilgit Baltistan, amid rapid changes in the provincial administration of the province.