Chaudhry Latif Akbar
Chaudhry Latif Akbar is a Kashmiri politician who serves as the 14th Speaker of the Azad Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly. He is a senior leader of the Pakistan Peoples Party and has previously served as Leader of the Opposition, Minister for Finance, and as Acting President of Azad Kashmir for oath-taking duties.
Akbar was born on 4 February 1948 in a village in Muzaffarabad District. He completed his LL.B. degree from the University of Peshawar. He began his political involvement early and became vice president of the PPP Muzaffarabad district in 1976.
Political career
Akbar entered politics in the 1970s, becoming the vice president of the PPP Muzaffarabad district in 1976. He was first elected to the Azad Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly in the 1985 general elections, and has since been re-elected multiple times, including in 1991, 1996, 2006, 2011, and 2021.
Ministerial roles
During the PPP government of 2011–2016, Akbar served as the Minister for Finance, Planning, and Development. He previously served as Minister for Works and Public Health Engineering.
Akbar served as the Leader of the Opposition from August 2021 to June 2023. During the 2023 Speaker’s election, he was still officially holding the position despite PPP joining the ruling coalition.
Speaker of the Assembly
In the 2021 Azad Kashmiri general election, Akbar was elected from constituency LA-31 Muzaffarabad-V. On 3 June 2023, following the elevation of Chaudhry Anwarul Haq to Prime Minister, Akbar was elected Speaker of the Assembly with support from the PPP–PML coalition, while the PTI boycotted the vote.
Acting President (2025)
In November 2025, Akbar briefly assumed the duties of Acting President of Azad Jammu and Kashmir solely to administer the oath to Prime Minister Faisal Mumtaz Rathore and his cabinet, as President Sultan Mahmood Chaudhry was unable to attend due to illness.