Haji Gulbar Khan, an estranged member of the PTI, was elected as the chief minister for Gilgit Baltistan on Thursday.
His election to the role comes after PTI’s Khalid Khurshid Khan was disqualified as the chief minister over a fake degree earlier this month.
According to state-run Radio Pakistan, Gulbar secured 19 out of 20 votes while Raja Azam Khan, who had been endorsed by Khurshid as his successor, boycotted the election.
Javed Ali Manwa, who was leading one of the three forward blocs within the PTI, also boycotted the polls along with Muhammad Zakria Maqpoon, Radio Pakistan stated.
It further quoted the newly-appointed chief minister as expressing his commitment to work for the peace and prosperity of the region.
Belonging to the Diamer district, Gulbar was leading a forward bloc within the PTI and had previously declared he would contest for the position independently.
Gulbar had served as the GB health minister during the previous PTI government as well as in early 2011.
According to the GB assembly’s website, Gulbar took oath as its member on Nov 15, 2020 from the GBA-18 Diamer-IV constituency of the Darel district.
