Retired judge Yar Muhammad was sworn in on Wednesday as the caretaker chief minister of Gilgit-Baltistan in a ceremony held at the Governor House.

He was appointed for the role by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif as the GB Assembly completed its five-year tenure on Monday. According to the GB Order 2018, elections must be held within 60 days following the completion of the assembly’s tenure.

GB Governor Syed Mehdi Shah administered the oath to Muhammad in a ceremony attended by federal Minister for Kashmir Affairs, Gilgit-Baltistan and Safron Engineer Amir Muqam, other political figures, judges and local administration officials.

During the ceremony, GB Services Department Secretary Usman Ahmed read out the notification for the appointment of the caretaker chief minister.

Assembly’s tenure

After the GB Assembly elections on Nov 15, 2020 across 24 constituencies, the PTI had formed the government in the region with Khalid Khurshid elected as the chief minister.

However, following Khurshid’s disqualification in July 2023, a coalition government was formed by members of the PTI, PPP and PML-N parties with Haji Gulbar Khan — an estranged PTI member — as the new chief minister of the region.

Khurshid was disqualified by the GB Chief Court for allegedly obtaining a license from the GB Bar Council on the basis of a fake degree.

During its five-year tenure, the GB Assembly adopted 63 bills. The assembly also passed 114 resolutions on various issues, including a demand that the federal government declare GB a provisional province of Pakistan.

A dozen bills were passed in the final session of the assembly on Monday before the completion of its tenure at midnight.