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

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.