The election for the new Chief Minister of Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) will be held today. Candidates will submit their nomination papers by 11:30 am.

According to the details, polling to elect the new Leader of the House will be held in the afternoon today. After the submission of papers, they will be scrutinized and published at noon. Candidatures can be withdrawn till 2 pm. The results will be announced at 4 pm.

The ruling party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf nominated Barrister Khalid Khurshid as the chief minister slot in Gilgit-Baltistan. Barrister Khalid had a close contest with Fathullah Khan.

Khalid’s name was finalized after a meeting presided over by Prime Minister Imran Khan and attended by PTI Chief Organiser Saifullah Khan Nyazee.

The key slot of GB Assembly Speaker has already been pocketed by PTI. The name of Barrister Khalid was finalized after consultations with the PTI central leadership and its chapter in Gilgit-Baltistan.

The GB legislature consists of a total of 33 members; 24 directly elected and nine on reserved seats and 21 members belong to PTI whereas PPP is the second largest party in the assembly with four members.

Syed Amjad Zaidi Elected Speaker, Nazir Advocate Deputy Speaker

Syed Amjad Zaidi and Nazir Advocate of Tehreek-e-Insaf coalition were elected as Speaker and Deputy Speaker of Gilgit-Baltistan Legislative Assembly respectively.

In the Gilgit-Baltistan Assembly session, the election of Speaker and Deputy Speaker was carried out by secret ballot.

According to Speaker Fida Mohammad Nashad, PTI candidate Syed Amjad Zaidi got 18 out of 23 votes in the election, 4 votes of the coalition were lost and one was cast in favour of the opposition.

Opposition Alliance candidate for Speaker Ghulam Muhammad got 8 out of 9 votes out of which 2 votes were lost.