GILGIT BALTISTAN: A day after the regional government of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) had completed its term of five years in Gilgit-Baltistan (G-B), the caretaker chief minister of the region Mir Afzal was sworn into office on Wednesday.
As per details, Afzal became the second caretaker chief minister of GB where the slot of CM and governor was first introduced in 2009 under Governance Order 2009.
The oath was administered by GB Governor Raja Jalal in a ceremony attended by outgoing chief minister Hafeezur Rehman, Commander FCNA Ehsan Mehmood Khan and other senior government officials.
The retired DIG police, Afzal hailing from District Astore Bunji, was one of the three candidates interviewed by federal minister for the region and Kashmir affairs Ali Amin Gandapur in Islamabad.
According to sources, a number of former bureaucrats, politicians and journalists from GB were also interviewed by Minister of Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit Baltistan Ali Amin Gandapur.
Afzal was enrolled in the police force as ASI in the 60s. After getting promotions in the police department, he was posted to the Intelligence Bureau (IB) in Peshawar.
On Tuesday, his notification was issued by the GB council secretariat under Article 48-A (2) of Government of Gilgit-Baltistan Order, 2018.
According to the notification, “The caretaker chief minister was appointed after consultation with the incumbent Chief Minister and leader of Opposition in the outgoing GB Legislative Assembly”.
It is to be mentioned here that on 30 April 2020, the Supreme Court (SC) had allowed the federal government to conduct the coming general elections in GB under the Election Act, 2017, and to amend the related law to install a caretaker government for conducting polls.
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