The PML-N supremo says party tickets should be awarded strictly on the basis of merit for the upcoming AJK elections scheduled for January 24.
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) president and former prime minister Nawaz Sharif speaks to party leaders in Lahore on Friday, December 12, 2025. Screenshot
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Nawaz Sharif has urged the federal government to allocate shares of the National Finance Commission (NFC) award to Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) and Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) even before any formal application is made by the two regions.
Speaking to GB and AJK party leaders in Lahore, Nawaz stressed the need to select the “best possible candidates” for the upcoming elections scheduled for January 24. He said match tickets should be awarded strictly on merit, adding that compliance with this principle was essential for organizational discipline.
Nawaz stressed that all party decisions relating to the two regions must be governed by merit, warning that internal disputes at the local level had cost the party several seats in the past. He warned that such conflicts would no longer be tolerated. “Anyone involved in infighting must be excluded. We cannot allow our affairs to be harmed by bringing such people to the Centre,” he said.
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He said that the political environment is favorable for the party and should be fully exploited. While many would seek partisan nominations in such circumstances, he noted the importance of distinguishing between genuine loyalists and outsiders.
Nawaz said GB and AJK should not demand NFC award; instead, the federal government should take the lead. He said he would take up the matter with the prime minister, adding that federal investment in both regions already exceeded what they would have received through the NFC.
Highlighting the development initiatives, he noted that more than Rs 53 billion had been spent on the Gilgit-Skardu Expressway. The Frontier Works Organization had earlier estimated the cost of the project at between Rs 50 billion and Rs 60 billion. Even if the funds had come through NFC, he said, they would not have matched the investment already made.
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Nawaz said both regions should receive funds according to their rights, but noted that neither AJK nor GB currently had the institutional capacity to fully utilize large financial allocations. He stressed that the strengthening of institutional capacity must be accompanied by an increase in financing.
The former prime minister asked Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal to convey the party’s position to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, saying he would also raise the matter. He reiterated that GB and AJK should be given NFC-based funding and that such allocations should not depend on anyone’s discretion.
Nawaz called for a fixed annual amount to be allocated for each region, with a clear specification of how much goes to GB and how much goes to AJK. He directed party officials to start receiving applications for election tickets, saying he would visit Muzaffarabad, Gilgit or Skardu to meet candidates and conduct consultations aimed at helping the party make informed political decisions.
