New GB CM to be elected on July 13

GILGIT: The Supreme Appellate Court has approved the schedule for the election of the new Chief Minister of Gilgit-Baltistan (G-B), to be held on July 13.

Speaker of G-B Assembly Nazir Ahmed Advocate submitted the new schedule for the election, which was then approved by the court. As per the schedule, nomination papers can be filed on July 12.

The slot became vacant after former Chief Minister Khalid Khurshid was disqualified, following a fake degree case.

Khurshid’s degree was challenged by Abdul Hamid of the Pakistan People’s Party and Rana Farman Ali of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, both of whom contested against him in the last G-B Assembly elections.

The degree obtained by Khurshid from London was not verified by the university concerned but on the basis of that degree, he obtained a lawyer’s licence from the GB Bar Council. A three-member bench of the Gilgit court disqualified him.

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf then put forward the name of Raja Azam as its candidate for the slot of Gilgit-Baltistan chief minister.