• ECP put on notice for Oct 29 even after Faraz withdraws plea
• Barrister Gohar informs SC that Ayub’s wife will contest Haripur by-poll

ISLAMABAD: Former leader of the opposition in the Senate, PTI’s Shibli Faraz, on Mon­day withdrew his appeal from the Supreme Court against his disqualification as a senator, even after a five-judge Constitutional Bench (CB) of the top court issued notices to the Elec­tion Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on the plea.

Likewise, former leader of the opposition in the National Assembly, PTI’s Omar Ayub, also withdrew his similar appeal challenging his de-seating by the electoral body from the court.

PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan, who is representing the two former parliamentarians, told the CB, headed by Justice Aminuddin Khan, that Mr Ayub’s wife would contest the by-election for the Haripur (NA-18) seat vacated by her husband.

Mr Khan contended before the CB that he had been instructed by his client, Mr Ayub, to withdraw the appeal against his disqualification as the petitioner did not intend to participate in the by-election for the seat.

Both Mr Faraz and Mr Ayub, as well as other PTI lawmakers, were disqualified by the ECP on Aug 5 after they were found guilty by a Faisalabad anti-terrorism court (ATC) on July 31 of their involvement in the May 9, 2023, riots and sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment.

On Aug 25, the ATC again sentenced the two PTI leaders to 10 years in prison in another case involving an attack on PML-N leader Rana Sanaullah’s residence during the May 9 riots. Both PTI leaders first approached the Peshawar High Court. However, it dismissed their appeals for not being maintainable on the grounds that they had not surrendered before the court. Later, they approached the SC to challenge their disqualification.

On Monday, Barrister Gohar Ali Khan told the CB that the appeal against the disqualification of Mr Faraz as the leader of the opposition in the Senate was also being withdrawn. However, he requested the CB to issue notices to the ECP in the case. The CB accepted the request and issued a notice to the ECP for Oct 29, since the by-election to fill the seat left vacant by Mr Faraz will be held on Oct 30.

MWM chief

The counsel contended that the appeal filed against the de-notification of Mr Ayub was also being withdrawn because the notification appointing Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party Chairman Mahmood Khan Achakzai as the opposition leader had already been issued.

After the hearing, Barrister Gohar told reporters that the opposition alliance had agreed on the name of Majlis-i-Wahdat-i-Muslimeen chief Allama Raja Nasir Abbas for the leader of the opposition in the Senate and all the documentation had been completed.

Mr Raja replied that some issues pertained to the local level, adding that Mr Ayub’s constituency was the largest in the whole of Pakistan, whereas his wife had been looking after its affairs as a political worker for the last 20 years. Mr Khan told reporters that the case against Mr Ayub’s disqualification was pending before the PHC, from where he might obtain relief.

Published in Dawn, October 28th, 2025