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ISLAMABAD: By-election on the Senate’s general seat from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa that fell vacant due to the disqualification of Leader of the Opposition in the Senate, Shibli Faraz, is being held on Thursday (today). Faraz was convicted by an anti-terrorism court (ATC) in the May 9 riots case. The polling will start from 9 am and end at 5 pm in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly, Peshawar, said the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP). On 5th August, this year, the electoral body de-seated nine Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PT) lawmakers from their respective legislative memberships — five members of the National Assembly, three of the Punjab Assembly, and a senator —in connection with their convictions by the ATC in cases related to the May 9 riots. Apart from Faraz, Leader of the Opposition in NA Omar Ayub Khan was among the nine PTI lawmakers disqualified by the ATC and de-seated by the ECP. In recent months, 16 PTI lawmakers were de-seated by the ECP following their convictions by the courts. These lawmakers comprise eight members of the National Assembly, six members of the Punjab Assembly, and two members of the Senate. Abdul Latif (NA-1 Chitral), Omar Ayub Khan (NA-18 Haripur), Ahmed Chattha (NA-66 Wazirabad), Rai Haider Ali (NA-96 Faisalabad), Sahibzada Hamid Raza (NA-104 Faisalabad), Rai Hassan Nawaz (NA-143 Sahiwal), Jamshaid Dasti (NA-175 Muzaffargarh), Zartaj Gul (NA-185 Dera Ghazi Khan), Ansar Iqbal (PP-73 Sargodha), Ahmad Khan (PP-87 Mianwali), Junaid Afzal Sahi (PP-98 Faisalabad), Shahid Javed (PP-115 Faisalabad), Muhammad Ismael (PP-116 Faisalabad), Rai Murtaza Iqbal (PP-203 Sahiwal), ShibliFaraz (Senate) and Ejaz Chaudhary (Senate) are among the disqualified legislators. Except Dasti, the other 15 lawmakers were de-seated by the ECP keeping in view their convictions by the ATCs. Dasti was disqualified by the electoral body under Article 62(1)(d)(f)on the charges of having fake educational credentials. This law reads that a person shall not be qualified to be elected or chosen as a member of Parliament unless they are of good character and “not commonly known as one who violates Islamic injunctions” — and they are “sagacious, righteous, non-profligate, honest and ameen, there being no declaration to the contrary by a court of law.” The remaining 15 lawmakers were de-seated under Article 63(1)(h). The Article 63(1)(h) states that a person shall be disqualified from being elected or chosen as, and from being a member of the Parliament, if they are, on conviction for any offence involving moral turpitude, sentenced to imprisonment for a term of not less than two years, unless a period of five years has elapsed since their release. Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
