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Islamabad, Dec 12 (PTI): Elections for the Gilgit Baltistan Assembly in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) will be held on January 24 next year, it was announced on Friday.

A notification was issued after Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari gave a nod to the schedule for the upcoming general election.

It said that the polls for the GB Assembly will be held on January 24, 2026.

The Election Commission of the region will issue a new and detailed election schedule after the president’s approval, said GB Chief Election Commissioner Abid Ali, adding that the election watchdog will soon convene an all-parties conference to hold consultations with political stakeholders.

The GB Assembly was dissolved on November 24 after completing its five-year term, leading to the dissolution of the region's Chief Minister Haji Gulbar Khan's cabinet.

Justice (retd) Yar Muhammad Nasir, the former judge of the Gilgit Baltistan Chief Court, was sworn in as the caretaker chief minister of the region.

The last assembly elections in the region were held in November 2020, across 24 constituencies. Jailed former premier Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) formed the government with Khalid Khurshid elected as chief minister.

He was disqualified in July 2023, following which, a coalition comprising members of the PTI’s disgruntled faction, the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) formed a new government and elected Haji Gulbar Khan as the region’s chief minister.

India has repeatedly said that the entire state of Jammu and Kashmir, which also includes the so-called ‘Gilgit-Baltistan’ has been, is and shall remain an integral part of India. The Pakistan Government or judiciary have no locus standi on territories illegally and forcibly occupied by it, the Ministry of External Affairs has said. PTI SH GRS GRS GRS

(This story is published as part of the auto-generated syndicate wire feed. No editing has been done in the headline or the body by ABP Live.)