Sadia Danish, a member of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), has become the first woman deputy speaker of the Gilgit-Baltistan Assembly without facing any opposition. The ruling bloc, which includes PPP, PML-N, JUI-F, and members of PTI’s forward bloc, nominated her for the position.
Sadia Danish, from Gilgit, won her seat in the assembly in 2020 as a representative for women. She had previously served as the tourism and information minister in the PPP government in the region between 2009 and 2014.
Her election as deputy speaker happened shortly after the assembly elected a new speaker, Nazir Ahmed, on June 8, and Gulbar Khan became the new chief minister of the region.
Gulbar Khan, who was once a member of PTI’s forward bloc, received support from PPP, PML-N, and JUI-F to become the chief minister. However, he has not yet announced the members of his cabinet, as the allied parties are still working out an agreement on how to share power. Under the proposed formula, PPP and PML-N would each receive three ministries, and JUI-F would get one in the 12-member cabinet.
