Kashmir's Lawmakers Are Choosing a New President Today

Lawmakers in Pakistan-administered Kashmir are voting today, September 24, 2026, to pick a new president. The job has been empty for almost eight months.

Voting is taking place at the assembly secretariat in Muzaffarabad, from 10am to 1pm local time. The choice is between 62-year-old Najeeb Naqi Khan, backed by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), and 78-year-old Chaudhry Latif Akbar of the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) Al Jazeera.

The assembly has 53 seats in total, but only 46 are filled right now. PML-N and its allies hold 32 of those 46 seats. The PPP holds 14. A candidate needs 27 votes to win. That number is a majority of the full 53 seats, not just the filled seats.

Neither candidate is in the assembly now. The region's constitution says the president cannot be an assembly member.

The post has been open since January 31, 2026. Former President Sultan Mehmood Chaudhry died that day in Islamabad. He was 71. He had been elected in 2021 on a Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf ticket. After his death, Akbar served as acting president from January until August 2026.

The constitution says the speaker must hold a presidential election within 30 days of a vacancy. This vote is happening almost eight months later.

The wait followed assembly elections held in three phases on July 27, August 2 and August 10, 2026. PML-N won 25 of 38 directly contested seats, while the PPP won 12. PML-N also won six of eight reserved seats, which are set aside by rule rather than won in direct district races Al Jazeera.

Seven seats are still empty because polling was postponed in two districts. In Poonch division, polling was postponed in seven of 11 constituencies, five in Poonch district and two in Sudhnoti. Turnout was 48 percent, down from 61 percent in 2021.

Those assembly polls faced serious problems. The vote was marred by deadly clashes during protests Reuters. The third round was marred by delays and security concerns, with final voting delayed in parts of the region Reuters. Boycott calls also marred the August voting.

The broader context here is easy to picture. Think of a team picking a captain while several seats on the team are still empty. An eight-month vacancy is being filled by a house that is itself incomplete, with seven seats unfilled in one division. Experts on constitutional rules will look at the gap between the 30-day requirement and the September date. Experts on elections will look at lower turnout, postponed polling in Poonch, and the earlier unrest.

Looking at what this means for governance, the numbers give PML-N a clear path. With 32 votes and only 27 needed, it can elect its nominee without help from other parties if its members vote together. The PPP, with 14 seats, cannot block that on numbers alone. The question after the count is whether a president chosen in this way can keep administration steady until the postponed areas vote.