Web Desk — November 20, 2025
Gilgit: The Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) Assembly’s five-year term expires on November 24, paving the way for its automatic dissolution and the installation of a caretaker government ahead of fresh elections slated within 60 days.
Sources in the GB Assembly confirmed that Chief Minister Haji Gulbar Khan, leading a PTI Forward Bloc administration since July 13, 2023, will vacate office at midnight on November 24, triggering the cabinet’s disbandment. Khan assumed power after his predecessor, Khalid Khurshid, was disqualified on July 4, 2023, in a fake degree case. Khurshid, elected on December 1, 2020, held the post for just over two years and seven months.
The 2020 elections saw PTI clinch 16 of 24 general seats, forming a two-thirds majority with reserved spots, marking the party’s first supermajority in GB history. With the term’s end in sight, frantic negotiations are underway for a neutral interim chief minister, but consensus between the ruling coalition and opposition remains elusive despite multiple huddles.
Top contenders include Raja Naeem Amin and Retd. Brigadier Basharat—names floating in both camps—alongside Sher Bahadur Anjum, Muhammad Ali Qadeer, Waqar Mandok, Johar Ali Raki, Mir Mustafa Madni, Muhammad Hassan Hasrat, and Ghulam Abbas. If no agreement is reached, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif will nominate the caretaker, per constitutional provisions under the Gilgit-Baltistan Order 2018.
The dissolution sets the stage for polls by late January 2026 at the latest, amid calls for smoother transitions and greater provincial-like autonomy for GB. As the clock winds down, all eyes are on Islamabad’s intervention to ensure a seamless handover in this strategically vital region.
