PTI's Khurram Zeeshan elected senator in by-election from KP

PESHAWAR: The ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s Khurram Zeeshan was elected as a senator in the by-poll from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) after securing 91 votes, according to unofficial results and unconfirmed results, ARY News reported.

The opposition’s Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) candidate, Taj Muhammad Afridi, was the runner-up after receiving 45 votes.

The Senate by-election was held following the disqualification of Shibli Faraz, who was the Leader of the Opposition in the upper house.

Out of the 145 members of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly (KP), 133 cast their votes in the election for the Senate seat.

Meanwhile, four MPAs from the opposition Awami National Party (ANP) did not cast their votes.

Additionally, several other opposition and independent members were absent from the election, including four MPAs from Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F), former chief minister Akram Khan Durrani, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (Parliamentarian) woman MPA Nadia Sher, Pakistan People’s Party’s Farzana Shereen, and independent MPA Ali Hadi.

One vote was declared invalid.

The Senate seat was vacated in August after the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) de-notified nine PTI lawmakers, including Shibli Faraz, in their convictions in the May 9 cases.

Earlier this month, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly had elected the PTI’s nominee Sohail Afridi as the new leader of the house after Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur’s resignation.

The house elected Sohail Afridi, an MPA from Khyber region, with 90 votes as the new Chief Minister of the province.

A PTI member, Asif Mehsud, could not participate in voting owing to being out of the country.

The opposition parties boycotted the vote after Governor Faisal Karim Kundi objected over the resignation of Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur.

According to reports, a letter from the Governor has been received by Gandapur.

The Governor’s House received two purported resignation letters from the Chief Minister, “with signatures on both documents found to be different and inconsistent”.

Governor Faisal Karim Kundi has summoned the chief minister to verify the authenticity of the resignations. Ali Amin Gandapur has been called to the Governor’s House on October 15 at 3 p.m.

The KP governor stated that the matter will be resolved in accordance with the Constitution of Pakistan.

Four candidates had filed nomination papers for the election of the CM. Apart of the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) nominee Sohail Afridi, Molana Lutf Ur Rehman nominated by the Jamiat Ulma-e-Islam Fazal (JUI-F). Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) nominated Sardar Shahjahan Yousuf and Arbab Zarak Khan respectively for the CM office.

There are 145 members in KP assembly while number of ruling party members are 93 whereas the opposition’s strength in the house has been 51. A total 73-vote was needed for the election of the chief minister while the PTI candidate bagged 90 votes.