Senior leaders Shah Ghulam Qadir and Raja Farooq Haider have reportedly expressed serious reservations over the proposed nomination of Barrister Iftikhar Gilani for the premiership.
Kashmir Needs Your Voice
With internet services suspended in Pakistan-administered Kashmir since 6 June 2026, timely reporting has become increasingly challenging. The Azadi Times is inviting Kashmir-based writers and journalists to join our network of authors and contributors.
MUZAFFARABAD — Internal rifts within the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) in Azad Kashmir have surfaced over the proposed nomination for the region's prime minister, signaling a deepening political divide ahead of the government formation process.
According to party sources, consultations held at the Prime Minister House raised the prospect of nominating Barrister Iftikhar Gilani for the top office. However, the proposal met with immediate resistance from senior regional party figures, including PML-N Azad Kashmir President Shah Ghulam Qadir and former Prime Minister Raja Farooq Haider.
Sources familiar with the discussions indicated that both leaders expressed strong reservations and explicitly declined to endorse the central leadership's preferred choice. Following internal consultations with their close associates, Qadir and Haider have announced plans to determine their future political course of action.
The dissenting leaders are expected to formally convey their stance to the party's central leadership, adding fresh complexity to the political landscape in Azad Kashmir as the election for the prime minister approaches.
The developments leave the central leadership facing a critical juncture: whether to press forward with its current choice or formulate a compromise to appease regional stakeholders and prevent a deeper intra-party fracture.
