Gulbar Khan, the leader of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) forward bloc, was elected Gilgit-Baltistan’s new chief minister on Thursday. In the days leading up to the appointment, the election process was marred by controversy. As three other candidates withdrew their nominations, leaving only 20 members in the house, Gulbar emerged as the uncontested choice for chief minister. He was elected with 19 votes in his favor. However, an independent lawmaker named Nawaz Khan Naji did not vote, while members of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) backed Gulbar as the new chief minister. In a show of discontent, all 11 members of the PTI’s ‘like-minded group’ decided to boycott the election, alleging rigging. The need for the election arose as a result of the disqualification of former CM Khalid Khursheed by the region’s top court for possessing a forged degree. Following Khalid Khursheed’s ouster, the PTI split into two factions: the forward bloc and the like-minded or ‘humkhayal’ group, the latter of which chose to boycott the election.