GILGIT — Advocate Amjad Hussain of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) was formally sworn in as the new Chief Minister of Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) on Monday. The high-profile oath-taking ceremony, held at Chinar Bagh, was attended by PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari following a brief delay to accommodate the chairman’s diplomatic travel to Iran.
Hussain secured the top executive office unopposed following the June 7 regional elections, where the PPP emerged as the largest legislative power, capturing 12 seats in the 24-member GB Assembly. The incoming setup is formed with the democratic consensus of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N)—which has agreed to sit on the opposition benches—alongside floor facilitation from the Istehkam-i-Pakistan Party (IPP), Majlis Wahdat-i-Muslimeen (MWM), and PTI-backed independent lawmakers.
Newly elected CM Gilgit-Baltistan Amjad Hussain Advocate pledged to make Gilgit-Baltistan a model province for Pakistan during his address after taking the oath of office.#TOKReports #AmjadHussain #GilgitBaltistan #Pakistan pic.twitter.com/Hls6zMVIgB
— Times of Karachi (@TOKCityOfLights) July 6, 2026
Fiscal Deficits and Loadshedding Strategy
In his maiden address, Chief Minister Hussain positioned administrative transparency as his government’s foundation stone while drawing sharp attention to federal budgetary shortfalls. He noted that while GB holds a legitimate right to Rs 258 billion, it has only received Rs 142 billion from the federation, creating a deficit of over Rs 100 billion that handicaps local infrastructure development.
The Chief Minister also targeted the region’s crippling 22-hour power loadshedding crisis, detailing the vast untapped energy reservoirs in Gilgit city (200MW) and Diamer (1,000MW).
“No slowness or laziness will be tolerated on ongoing power projects,” Hussain warned, promising to eliminate loadshedding within five years, while clarifying that electricity bill collection would be strictly enforced without compromise.
To leverage the region’s geography as an Asian crossroads, the CM announced a “one village, one product” agricultural framework alongside aggressive eco-tourism and mining development maps to unlock GB’s extensive gemstone, lithium, and precious metal reserves.
Bilawal Vows Constitutional Struggle, Warns New Delhi
Addressing the assembly, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari committed to fighting for GB’s long-denied constitutional rights at the federal level. He proposed a temporary framework to grant GB and Azad Jammu & Kashmir (AJK) baseline representation within the National Assembly, the Senate, and the National Finance Commission (NFC).
Turning to geopolitical concerns along the high-altitude borders, the former foreign minister issued a stern warning to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Bilawal accused New Delhi of trying to deploy an “Israeli model” aimed at inciting public discord and launching external proxy campaigns across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan, and the northern territories. He asserted that the combined patriotism of the local populations would firmly defeat any cross-border stabilization conspiracies as attention shifts to the upcoming AJK electoral rounds.
