PESHAWAR: Election Commission of Pakistan on Thursday announced by-election to fill the general seat of Senate from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa which has fallen vacant due to disqualification of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf leader, Syed Shibli Faraz.

According to a notification issued by the ECP, polling for filling the seat will be held on Oct 30 at the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly building.

The former leader of the opposition in the Senate, Syed Shibli Faraz, was disqualified and de-notified by the ECP on Aug 5, following his conviction by an anti-terrorism court in Faisalabad on July 31.

He had challenged his disqualification and was initially granted interim relief by Peshawar High Court, whereby the ECP was restrained from taking any further action on the notification of his disqualification.

However, the high court on Oct 1 recalled the said stay order thus allowing the ECP to fill the vacant seat.

The ECP has appointed the KP provincial election commissioner, Saeed Gul, as the returning officer for the election.

According to the notification, the returning officer will issue public notice inviting nomination papers on Oct 7, whereas nomination papers will be filed on Oct 8 and 9.

Scrutiny of nomination papers will take place till Oct 13, whereas appeals could be filed against the acceptance or rejection of nomination papers till Oct 15.

The appeals would be decided by the appellate tribunal on Oct 17 after which revised list of candidates would be made public on Oct 18.

Moreover, nomination papers could be withdrawn by the candidates till Oct 20.

Published in Dawn, October 3rd, 2025