PML-N's Najeeb Naqi Khan Elected AJK President, Ending Eight-Month Vacancy

Dr Najeeb Naqi Khan of the PML-N was elected the 25th President of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) on September 24, 2026, winning 32 of the votes cast in the region's 53-member Legislative Assembly and ending an eight-month vacancy in the region's top constitutional office.

How the vote broke down

The election was held at the AJK Legislative Assembly Secretariat, where the PML-N and its allied legislators held enough seats to comfortably clear the 27-vote threshold needed to win. Dr Naqi secured 32 votes against 13 for the Pakistan Peoples Party's nominee, Chaudhry Latif Akbar. The PML-N and its coalition partners control 32 of the assembly's 46 filled seats, which made the outcome largely a formality once the party settled on its nominee.

Filling an eight-month vacancy

The presidency had sat empty since January 2026, when Barrister Sultan Mahmood, the sitting president, died in office. Under AJK's constitutional arrangement, the president is a largely ceremonial head of state — the prime minister runs the government — but the office still carries formal powers, including assenting to legislation and administering oaths, that had gone unfilled for the better part of a year while the seat remained vacant.

A career built on the health and finance portfolios

Dr Naqi, who hails from Sudhnoti district and trained as a doctor at King Edward Medical College, is not a newcomer to AJK politics. He first entered the AJK Legislative Assembly in 1991 and has since cycled through several of the territory's key ministerial portfolios, including health, education, information technology, finance, and planning and development, most recently holding the health and finance briefs between 2016 and 2021. His father, Colonel Muhammad Naqi Khan, also served as an AJK health minister and assembly member before him, making the presidency the culmination of a two-generation political career in the region.

Why the office matters beyond ceremony

AJK's president sits alongside a separately elected prime minister and assembly in a system that mirrors, on a smaller scale, the division of powers between Pakistan's federal president and prime minister. The territory's political alignment with whichever party holds power in Islamabad has long shaped how smoothly the president's office and the AJK government work together, and the PML-N's hold on both the AJK assembly majority and, for now, a share of federal power removes one source of the friction that has periodically slowed governance in the region. Filling the post also matters for AJK's role in Pakistan's broader Kashmir policy positioning, since the president is among the officials who represent the territory's government in formal exchanges with Islamabad and, on occasion, with international visitors.

What happens next

Dr Naqi is expected to be sworn in shortly after the formal notification of his election, taking on a five-year term. Build Better Pakistan will note any changes to the AJK government's working relationship with Islamabad once he formally assumes office, along with any policy priorities he sets out as president.

Build Better Pakistan's Politics Desk tracks governance and institutional developments across Pakistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir.