Khurram Zeeshan, PTI’s Irfan Saleem and opposition candidate Taj Muhammad Afridi were contesting the by-elections.
Khurram Zeeshan of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf is the winner on Thursday to fill the Senate seat left vacant after the disqualification of Shibli Faraz.
Three candidates are competing: Khurram Zeeshan and Irfan Saleem of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI), and opposition candidate Taj Muhammad Afridi.
Chief Minister Sohail Afridi got stuck in traffic on the way to the assembly and continued on foot, waving and shaking hands with commuters along the way.
After casting his vote, Afridi told reporters that he was on his way to Adiala Jail to meet PTI founder Imran Khan. He expressed confidence in the PTI’s position in the provincial assembly and said: “None of our MPAs have defected, from the election of the president to my own selection.”
He criticized the federal government for excluding Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa from discussions that directly affect the province. “Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is an interested party in the Pakistan-Afghanistan talks, but they did not trust us,” he said. “Our position is that decisions about the province should not be made behind closed doors.”
Former KP Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur also arrived and cast his vote.
Voting began at 9:00 a.m. and will conclude at 4:00 p.m. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Provincial Election Commissioner Saeed Gul serves as Returning Officer while Joint Provincial Election Commissioner Muhammad Nadeem Khan, Deputy Director Media Coordination Sohail Ahmed, Deputy Director Elections Fahad Ali Shah and Deputy Director Law Muhammad Amjad serve as election officers.
Read: Supreme Court refuses to delay Senate by-election for Shibli Faraz seat
Re-election of seats in the Senate
On Wednesday, the Supreme Court rejected a petition by Faraz to suspend the elections and ruled that it would not interfere in the electoral process.
Earlier, a special anti-terrorism court in Faisalabad had sentenced PTI leaders Shibli Faraz and Omar Ayub to ten years in prison each for their alleged involvement in the May 9, 2023 riots that followed the arrest of Imran Khan.
The Election Commission of Pakistan disqualified nine PTI legislators, including Senate Opposition Leader Faraz and National Assembly Opposition Leader Ayub, following their conviction. Both initially challenged their disqualifications before the Peshawar High Court, but their petitions were dismissed as “unsustainable” as they had not been submitted to the court. They later appealed to the Supreme Court.
