PESHAWAR: Five candidates have filed nomination papers for the by-election on the general seat of Senate from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, which fell vacant after the disqualification of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf leader Syed Shibli Faraz by the Election Commissions of Pakistan.

According to the list of the nominated candidates released by the returning officer/provincial election commissioner Saeed Gul, nominations papers were filed by two PTI leaders Khurram Zeeshan and Irfan Saleem.

Similarly, former senator Taj Mohammad Afridi and another candidate Abid Khan Yousafzai filed papers with proposers and seconders belonging to Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz.

Likewise, Nisar Khan, enjoying support of Pakistan Peoples Party, also filed his nomination papers.

According to the election schedule, polling for the seat will be held on Oct 30 at the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly building.

Scrutiny of nomination papers will take place till Oct 13, whereas appeals could be filed against the acceptance or rejection of nomination papers by the returning officer 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 Moreover, nomination papers could be withdrawn by the candidates till Oct 20.

The PTI has already named Khurram Zeeshan as its candidate, whereas Irfan Saleem is his covering candidate.

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 Jul 31.

He had challenged his disqualification and was initially granted interim relief by the 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.

Published in Dawn, October 11th, 2025