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TheGovernment of Gilgit-Baltistan (Urdu: حکومتِ گلگت بلتستان) is the government of theadministrative territory ofGilgit-Baltistan,Pakistan. Its powers and structure are set out in the 2009 Gilgit-Baltistan Empowerment and Self-Governance Order,[2] in which14 districts come under its authority and jurisdiction. The government includes thecabinet, selected from members theGilgit–Baltistan Assembly, and the non-political civil staff within each department. The province is governed by aunicameral legislature with thehead of government known as theChief Minister. The Chief Minister, invariably the leader of a political party represented in the Assembly, selects members of the Cabinet. The Chief Minister and Cabinet are thus responsible the functioning of government and are entitled to remain in office so long as it maintains the confidence of the elected Assembly. Thehead of state of the province is known as theGovernor. The termsGovernment of Gilgit–Baltistan orGilgit–Baltistan Government are often used in official documents. Theseat of government is inGilgit, thus serving as thecapital of the territory.
In 1970, theGilgit Agency, theBaltistan district of erstwhile Ladakh wazarat, and the hill states ofHunza andNagar were amalgamated to form theFederally Administered Northern Areas orNorthern Areas for short. The territory was renamedGilgit-Baltistan in 2007 and given self-government status in 2009.[3]
While administratively controlled byPakistan since 1947, Gilgit-Baltistan has not yet been formally integrated into the Pakistani federation state and does not participate in constitutional political affairs.[4][5] On 29 August 2009, the Gilgit-Baltistan Empowerment and Self-Governance Order 2009 was passed by theGovernment of Pakistan and later signed by thePresident. The order granted self-rule to the people of Gilgit-Baltistan, by creating, among other things, an electedGilgit-Baltistan Legislative Assembly and aGilgit-Baltistan Council. Gilgit-Baltistan thus gainedde facto province-like status without constitutionally becoming part of Pakistan.[4][6]
In November 2020, Pakistani prime minister Imran Khan announced that Gilgit-Baltistan would attain Interim Semi-Provincial status after the 2020 Gilgit-Baltistan Assembly election.
TheLaw Ministry of Pakistan recently finalised the draft of the 26th Amendment to the Constitution, submitting it to the prime minister for review. The proposed legislation is aimed at awarding GB provisional provincial status, and is expected to be presented in parliament for debate. If passed by a two-thirds majority in parliament, Gilgit-Baltistan would likely be given the status of province through an amendment in Article 1 of the Constitution. The 26th Amendment would empower Gilgit-Baltistan as per the otherprovinces of the Pakistan without jeopardizing Pakistan's stance about theKashmir conflict.
As of now the work on the legislation about the provisional provincial status has been slowed down due to the recentpolitical unrest in Pakistan.
The government of Gilgit Baltistan consists of democratically elected body with theGovernor of Gilgit-Baltistan as the constitutional head. TheChief Minister of Gilgit-Baltistan is elected by the Provincial Assembly of the Gilgit-Baltistan to serve as the head of the provincial government in Gilgit-Baltistan. Whereas, the Chief Secretary Gilgit-Baltistan is usually an officer of grade BPS-21 or 22 from thePakistan Administrative Service acts as an administrative head of theGilgit-Baltistan.
The Executive Consists of the following departments.[7] Each or two of these departments mix up to form a Ministry. Each of the ministry is headed by the elected minister or a technocrat appointed by theChief Minister of Gilgit-Baltistan and a provincial secretary of BPS-20 grade officer of thePakistan Administrative Service.
Yar Muhammad took oath as the caretakerChief Minister on 26 November 2025. He is yet to form his cabinet.[8][9]
| Name | Portfolio | Party | Constituency | From |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yar Muhammad[10] | Chief Minister | N/A | N/A | 26 November 2025[9] |
TheGilgit-Baltistan Legislative Assembly is a 33-seat unicameral legislative body. It has 24 directly elected members, 6 reserved seats are for women plus 3 seats are reserved for technocrats.[11] Current Assembly of Gilgit-Baltistan is thethird successive Assembly of the region that came into being as a result of the November2020 Gilgit-Baltistan Assembly election. In the third Assembly of Gilgit-BaltistanPTI occupies 22 seats out of 33, enough for making a strong government.
Since the proclamationGilgit-Baltistan Empowerment and Self Governance Order there were two assemblies that successfully completed their constitutional tenures.First Assembly lasted from 2009 to 2015 in whichPPP was in power. TheSecond Gilgit Baltistan Assembly lasted from 2015 to 2020 in whichPMLN government was in power.
The Gilgit-Baltistan Council has been established as per Article 33 of Gilgit-Baltistan (Empowerment & Self Governance) Order, 2009. Its Chairman is thePrime Minister of Pakistan andGovernor of Gilgit-Baltistan is the Vice-Chairman. It can legislate on 53 subjects as provided in Schedule III of the Order.Other members includeChief Minister of Gilgit-Baltistan, 6 members are nominated byPrime Minister of Pakistan and 6 members are elected byGilgit-Baltistan Legislative Assembly.[12]
In light of a verdict bySupreme Court of Pakistan in the case filed by Wahab Al Kahiri, Justice Shehbaz Khan and others through Al-Jehad Trust Versus Federation of Pakistan, as per orders of Supreme Court of Pakistan,Government of Pakistan established Northern Areas Court of Appeals at Gilgit vide Gazette of Pakistan, extraordinary, part II dated 8 November 1999 with Appellate Jurisdiction, The Court started function on 27 September 2005, when the Chairman and members were appointed. on 15 December 2007 by virtue of amendments in the Northern Areas Governance order 1994, the nomenclature of the Court was re-designated as Northern Areas Supreme Appellate Court and its jurisdiction was also enlarged by conferring Original and Appellate jurisdiction, It was also given the Status equal to the Supreme Court of Azad Jammu and Kashmir.[citation needed]
On 9 September 2009, the Supreme Appellate Court was conferred the similar jurisdiction equal to the Supreme Court of Pakistan by promulgating Gilgit-Baltistan (Empowerment and Self Governance Order) 2009. The Supreme Appellate Court is consisting of a Chief Judge and two Judges. The Permanent Seat of the Court is at Gilgit, but the Court also sits from time to time at Skardu Branch Registry.[citation needed]
Gilgit-Baltistan Chief Court is the court of appeal and is equivalent to otherprovincialhigh courts according to Gilgit-Baltistan Empowerment and Self-Governance Order 2009.[13]
| Executive branch |  | |
|---|---|---|
| Legislative branch | ||
| Judicial branch | ||
| Provincial governments | ||
| Territorial governments | ||
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