Imran Khan’s party candidate Zeeshan wins Senate seat in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

Peshawar, Oct 30 (PTI) Khurram Zeeshan, candidate of jailed former prime minister Imran Khan’s party, was on Thursday elected with a thumping majority as a senator on the general seat from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

The seat had fallen vacant following the disqualification of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (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 Khyber Pakhtunkhwa lawmakers. He defeated opposition-backed Taj Mohammad Afridi, who was able to secure 45 votes.

“Thank God,” Zeeshan said in a post on his Facebook account. “Our priority is Pakistan’s ‘haqeeqi azadi’ (true freedom),” the PTI leader told reporters outside the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly earlier today, echoing a phrase used by Khan.

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.

In the 145-member assembly, four Awami National Party (ANP) lawmakers did not take part in the polling process.

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