Lawmakers in Pakistan-administered Kashmir elect ruling party candidate as prime minister

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MUZAFFARABAD, Pakistan (AP) — Lawmakers in Pakistan-administered Kashmir on Friday elected Syed Iftikhar Ali Gillani as prime minister after he secured 30 of 44 votes cast in the legislative assembly, the election commission and regional officials said.

Gillani is a member of Pakistan’s ruling Pakistan Muslim League-N party.

His election marked the party’s return to power in the region after a decade. His rival, Mukhtar Ahmed Abbasi of the former ruling Pakistan People’s Party, received 14 votes.

It comes after candidates backed by the party of former Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif won a commanding lead in legislative elections held in phases because of security concerns. The elections followed a boycott call by the outlawed Joint Awami Action Committee, or JAAC, which urged residents not to participate and is still holding rallies.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has congratulated Gillani over being elected premier in Kashmir, which is divided between Pakistan and India. Both countries claim the Himalayan region in its entirety. The two countries have fought three wars since gaining independence from British colonial rule in 1947, two of them over Kashmir. The election was overshadowed by months of protests led by JAAC, which was recently banned by the regional government, which cited security and public-order concerns.