ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Nawaz Sharif has nominated Dr Muhammad Najeeb Naqi as the party’s candidate for the office of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) president, Punjab Senior Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb said on Wednesday.

“Nawaz Sharif nominated Dr Naqi for the AJK president slot,” Marriyum said in a post on X, adding that the PML-N leader had directed Dr Naqi to submit his nomination papers for the presidential election.

She congratulated Dr Naqi on behalf of the party and expressed her best wishes for him.

The AJK Election Commission has scheduled the presidential election for September 24. Candidates will submit their nomination papers to the returning officer on September 19 between 10am and noon, with scrutiny to be conducted the same day.

Candidates can withdraw their nomination papers by 11:30am on September 23, while polling will be held at the AJK Legislative Assembly Secretariat on September 24 from 10am to 1pm. The votes will be counted and the result announced after polling.

The office of the AJK president has remained vacant since January following the death of Barrister Sultan Mahmood. Chaudhry Latif Akbar, who was then speaker of the Legislative Assembly, served as acting president before Chaudhry Tariq Farooq assumed the role after being elected speaker on August 25.

The AJK president will be elected by a majority vote in the electoral process, according to the schedule announced by Chief Election Commissioner retired Justice Ghulam Mustafa Mughal.

The nomination of Dr Najeeb Naqi formally puts forward the PML-N’s candidate for the vacant constitutional office. The party holds a majority in the 46-member AJK Legislative Assembly following the 2026 elections and formation of the new assembly.

The election commission has also announced that the polling and counting process will take place on the same day, with the final result declared after completion of voting.