Newly sworn-in GB CM picks 8 PPP, 4 IPP assembly members to join his cabinet as ministers

Gilgit-Baltistan's newly sworn-in Chief Minister Amjad Hussain has finalized his cabinet, appointing 12 members as ministers. The selection includes eight individuals from Hussain's own Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and four from the Istehkam-i-Pakistan Party (IPP).

The appointments were formalized through a notification issued by the Services and General Administration Department and Cabinet Department. The notification stated that the Gilgit-Baltistan governor appointed the members of the Gilgit-Baltistan Assembly as ministers on the chief minister's advice. The list of appointees includes Zulfiqar Ali Murad, Syed Jalal Shah, Muhammad Ali Akhtar, Naiknam Karim, Iqbal Hassan, Raja Nasir Khan, Muhammad Naseem, and Syed Tauqeer Mehdi from the PPP, alongside Aman Ali, Asad Shafiq, Anwar Ali, and Muhammad Dilpazeer from the IPP.

Notably, the notification does not specify the portfolios assigned to these new ministers. The four IPP members had initially contested the June 7 Gilgit-Baltistan elections as independent candidates before joining their current party. The current Gilgit-Baltistan Assembly composition features 14 members from the PPP, nine from the PML-N, seven from the IPP, one from the Majlis Wahdat-i-Muslimeen, and one PTI-backed independent candidate.

A by-election is pending for the GBA-9 Skardu-III seat, following the disqualification of the PPP candidate for concealing assets. The GB Election Commission has yet to announce the date for this by-poll. Following the general elections, the PML-N and IPP had agreed to support the PPP in the elections for chief minister, speaker, and deputy speaker, with the PML-N opting to sit in the opposition.