PPP’s Amjad Hussain Set to Become Gilgit‑Baltistan Chief Minister, Breaking Centre‑Party Dominance

• Gilgit‑Baltistan Assembly convenes; PPP’s Amjad Hussain poised to be chief minister
• Imran Nadeem likely to be elected speaker; PML‑N’s Malik Kifayat slated as deputy speaker
• PML‑N and IPP pledge backing for PPP

Gilgit: Advocate Amjad Hussain, nominated by Bilawal Bhutto‑Zardari as the Pakistan Peoples Party’s candidate for chief minister of Gilgit‑Baltistan, said the party has shattered the notion that only the party in power at the federal centre can form a government in the region.

The first session of the newly elected GB Assembly was called for Monday at 9 a.m., during which members‑elect will be sworn in and will choose the house leader, speaker and deputy speaker.

“This is a transformation, and the centre should respect it,” Hussain told Dawn, referring to a party other than the ruling federal government gaining power in GB.

“For the first time the people of GB have voted for mainstream democratic parties, rejecting traditional, ethnic and religious‑based factions,” he added.

Hussain highlighted the PPP’s proposal to grant provisional provincial status to Gilgit‑Baltistan as a counter to India’s 2019 revocation of special status for Jammu & Kashmir. He argued that such a status, together with representation in the National Assembly and Senate pending a Kashmir plebiscite, would bolster Pakistan’s position on the dispute.

In 2022, the then‑ruling PTI obstructed the 26th Amendment, which also sought to declare GB a provisional province.

A senior lawyer and president of the PPP’s Gilgit‑Baltistan chapter, Hussain was elected from GBA‑1 in the recent polls. He previously served on the GB Council (2009‑2014) and as a member of the GB Assembly (2020‑2025), including a stint as opposition leader (2020‑2023) during the PTI‑led administration of Khalid Khurshid.

He also served as opposition leader in the assembly from 2020 to 2023 during the PTI‑led government headed by Khalid Khurshid.

Government formation

Earlier, PPP and Istehkam‑i‑Pakistan Party (IPP) leaders announced that consultations had produced an agreement under which the IPP will support the PPP in forming the government.

PPP Central Secretary General Nayyar Hussain Bukhari, senior leader Qamar Zaman Kaira and Hussain attended the meeting, along with IPP Secretary General Khalid Mahmood, GB President Haji Gulbar Khan and Raja Jalal.

Gulbar Khan said that any further issues between the two parties would be resolved by their central leaderships at the federal level.

According to an official source, the PML‑N and IPP have decided to back the PPP in electing the chief minister, speaker and deputy speaker. PTI‑backed member‑elect Sohail Abbas Shah and Majlis Wahdat‑i‑Muslimeen’s Kazim Mesum have also pledged support to the PPP.

PPP’s Advocate Amjad Hussain is expected to become chief minister, Imran Nadeem the speaker, and PML‑N’s Malik Kifayat the deputy speaker.

Supporters of PPP candidate Attaullah Khan (GBA‑16 Diamer‑II) continued their protest for a second day, blocking the Karakoram Highway in Chilas.

Published in Dawn, June 22, 2026

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