AJK president election on 24 September: Nawaz Sharif nominates Dr Najeeb Naqi

Azad Jammu and Kashmir will elect a new president on 24 September, and the PML-N has picked its man: party president Nawaz Sharif has nominated Dr Muhammad Najeeb Naqi, Punjab Senior Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb announced on 16 September, Geo News reported.

With the PML-N's candidate having just won the AJK prime minister's election by a wide margin, Dr Naqi goes in as the clear favourite.

The election schedule

AJK Chief Election Commissioner Justice (retd) Ghulam Mustafa Mughal has announced these dates, according to Geo News:

The vote takes place at the AJK Legislative Assembly Secretariat in Muzaffarabad, and the winner needs a majority of the votes cast.

Why the post is vacant

The presidency has had no elected holder since January 2026, when Barrister Sultan Mahmood died, Geo News reported. Acting officials have filled the office since then, with Assembly Speaker Chaudhry Tariq Farooq taking on the role in August.

The numbers in the Assembly

The best guide to the result is the recent election for prime minister. PML-N's Iftikhar Gillani won that vote with 30 of the 44 votes cast, beating the PPP's Sardar Mukhtar Ahmad Khan Abbasi, who got 14, ARY News reported. If the same alignment holds, Dr Naqi has a comfortable majority. No other candidate had been announced by Thursday morning; the field will be clear after nominations close on 19 September.

What Dr Naqi said

Thanking the party, Dr Naqi said the nomination showed "trust in him" and "a show of confidence in the entire region", and said reducing public hardship would be his priority, ARY News reported. Party workers gathered at Kashmir House in Muzaffarabad to congratulate him.

Why it matters to readers in AJK

The president is the constitutional head of Azad Kashmir. An elected president ends months of acting arrangements and completes the new PML-N-led set-up with Gillani as prime minister. For residents, the practical questions now sit with the new government: prices, power bills and the federal fuel relief, which is now open in AJK. Bike and 800cc car owners can register by SMS to 9771 using province code A; see our relief guide. Families with relatives abroad can check today's riyal and dirham rates before they convert remittances.

We will update this page with the candidate list after 19 September and the result on 24 September.