2026 Gilgit Baltistan Assembly election
Pakistani regional election
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Elections to appoint the 24 members of the 4th Gilgit-Baltistan Assembly, the highest body of the Government of Gilgit-Baltistan, were held on 7 June 2026.[5][6][7]
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7 June 2026
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24 of the 33 seats in the Gilgit-Baltistan Assembly[a] 17 seats needed for a majority | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Registered | 960,496 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Turnout | 57.69% | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 Constituency map of the Gilgit Baltistan Assembly, showing winning parties. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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According to official results, the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) won ten general seats while Pakistan Muslim League (N) (PML(N)) emerged to be the second largest party with six general seats. Independent candidates supported by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) won two general seats and Majlis Wahdat-e-Muslimeen (MWM) won one general seat. Other independent candidates garnered five general seats.[8] These five independents later joined Istehkam-e-Pakistan Party (IPP).[1] Moreover, one of the PTI-supported independents later joined PPP.[4] After the allotment of reserved seats and re-polling held in two constituencies, the party standings were as follows: 15 seats for PPP, 9 seats for PML(N), 7 seats for IPP, and 1 seat each for MWM and PTI-supported independents.[9]
Background
2020 elections
Following the elections in 2020, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) emerged as the largest party after winning 16 of the 24 general seats in the Gilgit-Baltistan Assembly, and securing a two-thirds supermajority in the assembly after six women representatives (four who went to the PTI) and the three technocrats (two who went to the PTI) were added with a final total of 22 out of 33 seats. Khalid Khurshid was elected as the Chief Minister of Gilgit-Baltistan. The PTI became the first party in the history of Gilgit-Baltistan to secure a two-thirds majority.[10]
Election of Gulbar Khan
On 4 July 2023, a three-member bench of the Gilgit-Baltistan Chief Court disqualified Khurshid following a court case that revealed his law degree from London to be fake. The case against Khursheed was filed by Ghulam Shahzad Agha, a member of the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) who argued that his degree was fraudulent. As a result of his disqualification, he was de-seated and the PTI government in Gilgit-Baltistan was dissolved.[11]
On 13 July 2023, Gulbar Khan, another PTI member of the Assembly, was elected as Chief Minister after securing 19 votes, including three each from the Pakistan Muslim League (N) PML(N) and Pakistan People's Party (PPP), and one from the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (F) (JUI(F)). The remaining twelve votes were from PTI members, who subsequently formed a forward bloc in the assembly. Khan's cabinet included two members each from the PML(N) and PPP, one from the JUI(F), and nine from the PTI forward bloc.[12][13]
Timeline
- 24 November 2025: The Gilgit-Baltistan Assembly completed its 5-year tenure at midnight. Elections must be held no more than 60 days after this date.[14] Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and President Asif Ali Zardari appointed Yar Muhammad, a retired Justice of the Gilgit-Baltistan Chief Court, as the region's caretaker Chief Minister.[15]
- 26 November 2025: Governor Syed Mehdi Shah administered the oath of office to Yar Muhammad.[16]
- 2 December 2025: The Election Commission of Gilgit-Baltistan (ECGB) announced the schedule of the 2026 elections, setting 24 January 2026 as the date when polling will be held.[5]
- 18 December 2025: After consultation with 20 political parties at a multi-party conference, the ECGB announced that the elections would be delayed due to harsh weather conditions in the region.[6]
- 6 January 2026: The caretaker cabinet of Chief Minister Yar Muhammad was sworn in, consisting of twelve ministers and two advisors.[17]
- 11 February 2026: Former Gilgit-Baltistan governor Raja Jalal Hussain Maqpoon joined IPP.[18]
- 11 April 2026: The ECGB announced the new election schedule, setting 7 June 2026 as the date when polling will be held.[7]
- 7 June 2026: Polls opened.[19]
Seats held before elections
The table below lists the ten political parties that fielded at least three candidates (out of a possible 24 constituencies) or held seats at the end of the term of the 3rd Gilgit-Baltistan Assembly.[20]
Results
The two tables below show the results of the elections. The first table shows the results for the elections across all 24 constituencies, and shows each political party's standing after independents joining different parties and the allotment of reserved seats.[21] The second table shows more detailed results for each of the 24 constituencies.[22][23][24]
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| Party | Votes | % | Seats | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Contested | Won (General) | Reserved (Women) | Reserved (Technocrats) | Independents joined | Total | +/- | ||||
| PPP | 163,149 | 29.94% | 23 | 10 | 3 | 1 | 1[4] | 15 / 33 |
 10 | |
| PML(N) | 120,546 | 22.12% | 22 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 9 / 33 |
6 | |
| IPP | 41,958 | 7.70% | 19 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 5[1][2] | 7 / 33 |
7 | |
| PTI[c] | 36,773 | 6.75% | 15 | 2 | 0 | 0 | -1[4] | 1 / 33 |
 19 | |
| MWM | 22,756 | 4.18% | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 / 33 |
 | |
| ITP | 22,352 | 4.10% | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 / 33 |
| |
| JUI(F) | 14,342 | 2.63% | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 / 33 |
1 | |
| BNF(N) | 7,075 | 1.30% | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 / 33 |
1 | |
| AWP | 3,832 | 0.70% | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 / 33 |
| |
| PRHP | 2,290 | 0.42% | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 / 33 |
| |
| JI | 1,420 | 0.26% | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 / 33 |
| |
| PML(Q) | 1,093 | 0.20% | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 / 33 |
| |
| Pakistan Nazriyati Party | 790 | 0.15% | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 / 33 |
| |
| MQM(P) | 434 | 0.08% | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 / 33 |
| |
| PMML | 134 | 0.03% | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 / 33 |
| |
| TLP | 77 | 0.01% | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 / 33 |
| |
| ANP | 53 | 0.01% | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 / 33 |
| |
| PAT | 22 | 0.004% | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 / 33 |
| |
| SIC | 19 | 0.004% | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 / 33 |
| |
| Pakistan Awami League | 17 | 0.003% | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 / 33 |
| |
| TTP | 7 | 0.001% | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 / 33 |
| |
| IND | 105,834 | 19.42% | 236 | 5 | 0 | 0 | -5[1][2] | 0 / 33 |
| |
| Valid ballots/Total seats | 544,973 | 98.36% | 389 | 24 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 33 | - | |
| Rejected ballots | 9,093 | 1.64% | ||||||||
| Cast ballots | 554,066 | - | ||||||||
| Registered voters/turnout | 960,496 | 57.69% | ||||||||
By constituency
| Constituency | Winner | Runner-up | Margin | Registered
Voters |
Votes
Cast |
Voter
Turnout |
Source(s) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| District | Name | Candidate | Party | Votes | % | Candidate | Party | Votes | % | |||||
| Gilgit | GBA-1 | Amjad Hussain | PPP | 11,287 | 37.89 | Muhammad Shafiq Ud Din | PML(N) | 6,472 | 21.73 | 4,815 | 45,792 | 30,723 | 67.09 | [25] |
| GBA-2 | Hafeezur Rehman | PML(N) | 14,788 | 44.31 | Jamil Ahmad | PPP | 9,319 | 27.92 | 5,469 | 56,019 | 33,375 | 59.58 | [26] | |
| GBA-3 | Syed Sohail Abbas Shah | PTI[c] | 8,060 | 26.97 | Aftab Haider | PPP | 7,665 | 25.65 | 395 | 52,522 | 30,529 | 58.13 | [27] | |
| Nagar | GBA-4 | Muhammad Ali Akhtar | PPP | 7,973 | 42.22 | Muhammad Ayub Waziri | ITP | 6,805 | 36.03 | 1,168 | 29,970 | 19,239 | 64.19 | [28] |
| GBA-5 | Zulfiqar Ali Murad | PPP | 2,780 | 25.50 | Riaz Akbar | MWM | 2,562 | 23.50 | 218 | 18,300 | 11,214 | 61.28 | [29] | |
| Hunza | GBA-6 | Naik Nam Karim | PTI[c][d] | 6,429 | 29.35 | Imtiaz Ul Haque | PPP | 5,499 | 25.10 | 930 | 52,237 | 22,628 | 43.32 | [30] |
| Skardu | GBA-7 | Syed Tauqeer Mehdi | PPP | 4,622 | 32.49 | Raja Jalal Hussain Maqpoon | IPP | 4,134 | 29.27 | 488 | 22,056 | 14,545 | 65.95 | [31] |
| GBA-8 | Muhammad Kazim Maisam | MWM | 10,816 | 37.19 | Syed Muhammad Ali Shah | PPP | 10,251 | 35.25 | 565 | 53,022 | 29,803 | 56.21 | [32] | |
| GBA-9 | Fida Muhammad Nashad[g] | PPP | 6,578 | 39.06 | Wazir Muhammad Saleem | IND | 6,353 | 37.73 | 225 | 33,649 | 17,622 | 52.37 | [34] | |
| GBA-10 | Raja Nasir Ali Khan | PPP | 6,773 | 29.87 | Muhammad Khan Wazir | IPP | 5,098 | 22.48 | 1,675 | 34,927 | 23,482 | 67.23 | [35] | |
| Kharmang | GBA-11 | Iqbal Hassan | PPP | 6,143 | 34.10 | Syed Mohsin Rizvi | PML(N) | 4,847 | 26.91 | 1,296 | 34,670 | 18,620 | 53.71 | [36] |
| Shigar | GBA-12 | Imran Nadeem | PPP | 13,222 | 42.53 | Raja Azam Khan Amacha | ITP | 8,977 | 28.87 | 4,245 | 46,594 | 34,663 | 74.39 | [37] |
| Astore | GBA-13 | Rana Farman Ali | PML(N) | 8,058 | 37.02 | Shahida Khursheed | PTI[c] | 7,256 | 33.33 | 802 | 44,056 | 22,260 | 50.53 | [38] |
| GBA-14 | Rana Muhammad Farooq | PML(N) | 7,058 | 35.15 | Syed Muhammad Abbas | PPP | 5,891 | 29.34 | 1,167 | 37,219 | 20,078 | 53.95 | [39] | |
| Diamer | GBA-15 | Muhammad Dilpazir | IND[b] | 6,033 | 20.56 | Wali ur Rehman | JUI(F) | 4,639 | 15.81 | 1,374 | 45,225 | 29,557 | 65.36 | [40] |
| GBA-16 | Imam Malik | IND[b] | 6,320 | 26.34 | Ataullah | PPP | 6,296 | 26.24 | 24 | 46,282 | 24,024 | 51.91 | [41][42] | |
| GBA-17 | Muhammad Naseem | PPP | 10,716 | 45.63 | Rehmat Khaliq | JUI(F) | 6,989 | 29.76 | 3,668 | 41,045 | 23,771 | 57.91 | [43] | |
| GBA-18 | Malik Kifayatur Rehman | PML(N) | 6,081 | 48.25 | Gulbar Khan | IPP | 5,447 | 43.22 | 634 | 27,368 | 12,678 | 46.32 | [44] | |
| Ghizer | GBA-19 | Syed Jalal Ali Shah | PPP | 9,331 | 34.06 | Zafar Muhammad | PML(N) | 7,460 | 27.23 | 1,871 | 45,885 | 28,121 | 61.29 | [45] |
| GBA-20 | Abdul Jahan | PML(N) | 7,153 | 24.01 | Nazir Ahmed | PPP | 7,034 | 23.61 | 119 | 52,733 | 30,172 | 57.22 | [46] | |
| GBA-21 | Aman Ali | IND[b] | 9,978 | 39.48 | Muhammad Ayub Shah | PPP | 6,685 | 26.45 | 3,293 | 43,075 | 25,476 | 59.14 | [47] | |
| Ghanche | GBA-22 | Muhammad Ibrahim Sanai | PML(N) | 10,136 | 47.18 | Ashiq Hussain | PPP | 9,498 | 44.21 | 638 | 36,778 | 21,483 | 58.41 | [48] |
| GBA-23 | Anwar Ali | IND[b] | 13,161 | 67.20 | Abdul Hameed | IND | 4,148 | 21.18 | 9,013 | 35,924 | 19,586 | 54.52 | [49] | |
| GBA-24 | Asad Shafiq | IND[b] | 7,763 | 50.51 | Muhammad Ismail | PPP | 5,311 | 34.56 | 2,452 | 25,148 | 15,600 | 62.03 | [50] | |
Reserved seats
On 20 June 2026, the ECGB notified successful candidates on reserved seats for women and technocrats.[21][9]
| Reserved seat | Candidate | Party |
|---|---|---|
| Women | Kulsoom Jahangir | PPP |
| Sadia Danish | PPP | |
| Sobia Jabeen | PPP | |
| Sajida Begum | PML(N) | |
| Jennifer Bahadur | PML(N) | |
| Dilshad Bano | IPP | |
| Technocrats | Muhammad Sharif | PPP |
| Sahib Khan | PML(N) | |
| Muhammad Ali | IPP |
Aftermath
As no party received an overall majority of 17 seats, negotiations were required to form a government. On 20 June 2026, in a press conference led by Amjad Hussain Azar and Hafiz Hafeezur Rehman, Pakistan People's Party (PPP) and Pakistan Muslim League (N) (PML(N)) announced a power-sharing agreement. Under the agreement, PPP would secure the offices of Chief Minister and Speaker, while PML(N) would secure the offices of Governor, Deputy Speaker, and Leader of the Opposition. Both parties would support the other in votes for the elected offices of Chief Minister, Speaker, and Deputy Speaker.[51][52] On 21 June 2026, Istehkam-e-Pakistan Party (IPP) also announced its support for PPP, with former Chief Minister Gulbar Khan, the party's president in Gilgit-Baltistan, said that they "will join the PPP-led alliance".[53]
On the morning of 22 June 2026, 30 newly elected members of the 4th Gilgit-Baltistan Assembly were sworn in by outgoing Speaker Nazir Ahmed. Due to ongoing legal and electoral proceedings, results for three general seats were still pending. Ahmed adjourned the assembly and returned at 4:00PM to announce the election schedule for the positions of Speaker and Deputy Speaker, giving candidates until 5:15PM to file nomination papers. Imran Nadeem of PPP and Malik Kifayatur Rehman of PML(N) had filed nomination papers for the position of Speaker and Deputy Speaker, respectively. Since no other candidate filed nomination papers, both were elected unopposed. Ahmed administered the oath of office to Nadeem, and Nadeem did so to Rehman. Nadeem then announced the election schedule for the position of Chief Minister, setting 7:40PM as the nomination deadline. No other candidate but Amjad Hussain Azar filed nomination, and therefore, Nadeem announced at 8:00PM that Azar was elected unopposed. Nadeem also announed Hafiz Hafeezur Rehman as the Leader of the Opposition, as opposioton members had requested so.[54]
On 6 July, Azar was administered the oath of office by Governor Syed Mehdi Shah in Gilgit.[55]
On 9 July, before he could be sworn in, Fida Muhammad Nashad, the winning candidate of PPP from GBA-9 Skardu-III was disqualified by the Supreme Appellate Court Gilgit-Baltistan.[33]
On 12 July, re-polling was held at one polling station in GBA-15 Diamer-I and eight polling stations in GBA-17 Diamer-III. Resultingly, Muhammad Dilpazir, an independent candidate who later joined IPP, won from GBA-15, and Muhammad Naseem, a candidate of PPP, won from GBA-17.[56]
See also
Notes
- Six seats are reserved for women, three seats are reserved for technocrats.
- PTI members who contested in the general election ran as independent candidates aligned with the party because the Election Commission Gilgit-Baltistan prohibited the PTI election symbol.[3]
- Naik Nam Karim, the PTI-supported independent who won from GBA-6 Hunza, joined PPP after the election.[4]
- One seat was vacant at the end of the assembly's term.
- Represented by Nawaz Khan Naji. Although Naji is the leader of Balawaristan National Front (Naji), he ran as an independent in the elections and served as an independent member in the assembly.
- On 9 July 2026, before he could be sworn in, Nashad was disqualified by the Supreme Appellate Court Gilgit-Baltistan.[33]