PTI-backed independent candidate Khurram Zeeshan on Thursday was elected as a senator on the general seat from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

The seat had fallen vacant following the disqualification of PTI leader Shibli Faraz, who was the opposition leader in the Senate, after he was convicted in cases pertaining to the May 9, 2023 riots.

A minimum of 75 votes were needed to win the seat.

Zeeshan won a total of 91 votes out of the 137 cast by KP lawmakers during the polling process today. He defeated opposition-backed Taj Mohammad Afridi, who was able to secure 45 votes.

Out of the 145-member KP Assembly, eight lawmakers did not cast their ballots, including four Awami National Party (ANP) leaders. One vote was rejected.

“Thank God,” Zeeshan said in a post on his Facebook account after his win.

“Our priority is Pakistan’s haqeeqi azadi (true freedom)”, the PTI leader told reporters outside the KP Assembly earlier today, echoing a phrase used by Imran.

Though three candidates were in the run for the polls, the main contest was expected to be between Zeeshan and Afridi. Irfan Saleem, another PTI-backed candidate on the electoral roll, was the covering candidate for Zeeshan.

KP Chief Minister Sohail Afridi also took part in the voting process, with a post on his X account voicing support for Zeeshan.

The polling began at 9:30am and concluded at 4pm, with provincial election commissioner Saeed Gul as the returning officer (RO).

Zeeshan and Saleem had also been nominated by the PTI to contest the Senate elections in 2024, but the polls for seats from KP were postponed and later held in July this year.

Afridi, who hails from the Khyber tribal district, was in 2020 reported to be the richest senator with his assets declared for the previous year amounting to Rs1.22 billion.

Two other candidates — independent Abid Khan Yousafzai and PPP’s Nisar Khan — withdrew their candidature.

Yesterday, a constitutional bench of the Supreme Court had dismissed the request of Faraz’s lawyer to stay today’s by-polls.

Faraz had challenged his disqualification and subsequent de-notification as a senator before the Peshawar High Court (PHC). However, the PHC earlier this month denied him and two MNAs any relief, allowing the ECP to fill the vacant seats, and instead ordered them to first surrender before the relevant court.

CM Afridi to announce ‘brief’ KP cabinet today

Separately, CM Afridi said he would announce a “brief” provincial cabinet once the Senate elections had concluded.

This comes two days after PTI founder Im­ran Khan’s sister told the newly appointed CM he had “complete authority” to form the provincial cabinet after he was once again denied a meeting with the incarcerated ex-premier.

Opposition MPAs in the KP Assembly have criticised the PTI over its failure to form the provincial cabinet, saying the government affairs had come to a halt. The lawmakers also feared that the prolonged delay in the cabinet formation was tantamount to inviting the imposition of an emergency in the province.

Speaking to reporters in Peshawar, the chief minister said PTI came to power in the province for the third time because of its “good governance”.

Afridi said he was listed among the individuals allowed to meet Imran today.

He added that if barred again from meeting his party founder, he would file a contempt of court case against the Adiala jail administration for not implementing the Islamabad High Court’s directives.

During his media talk, the chief minister termed the KP government the “main stakeholder” in the recent counterterrorism talks between Pakistan and Afghanistan.

CM Afridi said the government and people of KP were not taken into confidence for “any decisions or talks”. While welcoming the Pak-Afghan discussions, he said his government had “some reservations”.

The chief minister said Pakistan should take decisions while considering its interests. However, he added that the security decisions of KP, which has “sacrificed more than 80,000 lives in the war against terrorism”, should not be taken behind closed doors.

CM Afridi said, “One person comes with his formula and turns them (militants) into Mujahideens and heroes. Another person comes and carries out operations. A third person comes and thinks about rehabilitating them. Then a fourth person again thinks to conduct operations.”

“This is not a laboratory; this is our province,” he quipped, calling for a clear policy and questioning why terrorism had not been eradicated despite thousands of intelligence-based operations.

The chief minister further said legal action should be taken against those responsible for “collateral damage in drone attacks”. He added that an in-house committee of all parliamentary leaders yesterday discussed various topics, including the introduction of laws related to the matter. ۔