PESHAWAR: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) forward bloc leader Haji Gul Bar Khan was elected chief minister of Gilgit-Baltistan (G-B) on Thursday.

According to G-B Assembly Speaker Nazir Ahmed, Khan received 19 votes from provincial members of the assembly (MPAs). Khan, who was elected on a PTI ticket in 2020 and has served as the health minister, hails from Diamer District.

The other three candidates running for CM, Raja Azam Khan, Javed Ali Manwa and Raja Muhammad Zakria Maqpoon boycotted the election. Elections were held as former G-B chief minister Khalid Khurshid was disqualified earlier this month after Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) MPA Ghulam Shahzad Agha challenged his degree in court.

On July 4, Khurshid was disqualified for obtaining a license from the bar council on the basis of a fake degree. It is pertinent to note that Khurshid is also a PTI leader and the party’s regional president. After the former CM’s disqualification, the strength of the G-B Assembly fell to 32 parliamentarians.