President Arif Alvi approved on Monday appointment of Pakistan People’s Party’s Syed Mehdi Shah as Governor Gilgit Baltistan. Prime Minister Shehbaz had recommended Shah’s name for the post of GB governor.
The appointment comes after the president accepted the resignation of
Raja Jalal Hussain Maqpoon on June 25, 2022 and Gilgit Baltistan Assembly Speaker Syed Amjad Ali as Acting Governor till appointment of a new Governor.
Syed Mehdi Shah is a PPP stalwart. He was elected as the first chief minister of GB after then Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari signed on the Gilgit-Baltistan (Empowerment and Self-governance) Order, 2009. In 2020 elections, Shah contested from GBA-7 Skardu on Pakistan People’s
Party’s ticket. He, however, lost to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf’s Raja Zakaria Khan Maqpoon.