By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: A group of disgruntled leaders from former prime minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party has pledged to contest the upcoming Senate elections in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, rejecting demands from their party leadership to withdraw their candidacies ahead of the July 21 vote.
The Senate elections were slated to proceed unopposed following an agreement between the provincial government and the opposition, a deal that would see six PTI candidates and five opposition nominees elected without contest. But the resolve of several PTI members to defy this arrangement has thrown the carefully negotiated plan into question.
During a meeting of the dissenting PTI leaders, attended by Khurram Zeeshan, Irfan Saleem, and Ayesha Bano, the group made clear their intent to press forward with their campaigns.
Khurram Zeeshan, addressing the gathering, framed their stance as a matter of principle that transcends the elections themselves. “This issue goes far beyond Senate elections,” he said, vowing that he would not “withdraw, bow, or compromise.”
He directed sharp criticism at the PTI KP leadership for forging a political alliance with the opposition, questioning, “Is this what our leader envisioned?”
Irfan Saleem reinforced Zeeshan’s position. “We stand by principles and will remain so,” he said. “We will contest and never become part of this flawed system.”
The PTI’s political committee had met a day earlier and officially endorsed a slate of candidates selected by party founder Imran Khan, a list previously proposed by the party’s parliamentary board. The six PTI nominees set to be elected unopposed under the agreement are Murad Saeed, Faisal Javed, Mirza Afridi, Noor-ul-Haq Qadri, Azam Swati, and Rubina Naz.
The opposition’s five candidates include Talha Mehmood, Attaul Haq, Rubina Khalid, Dilawar Khan, and Niaz Ahmad. The understanding between the provincial government and the opposition aimed to streamline the electoral process in KP, avoiding a contentious vote.
This breakthrough follows more than 17 months of vacancies in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Senate delegation, a delay triggered by legal disputes over the allocation of reserved seats in the provincial assembly. A Supreme Court ruling on June 27 cleared the path for the elections, prompting the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to schedule polling for July 21.
The court on order on the reserves seats shifts reconfigure the 145-member assembly’s opposition bloc, which now totals 52 lawmakers: 18 from JUI-F, 17 from PML-N, 10 from PPP, four from ANP, and three from PTI-P. The PTI, with its 92 members, retains its majority.
Among the 26 reserved seats for women, JUI-F and PML-N each hold nine, PPP has five, ANP has two, and PTI-P has one. For the four non-Muslim seats, JUI-F claims two, while PML-N and PPP each have one. The assembly’s new composition will be formalised in a session summoned for July 20, when the newly elected members on reserved seats are expected to take their oaths. That body will, in turn, shape the Senate elections, though, with the uncontested agreement, the outcome is already set.
However, the rebellion within PTI ranks has prompted a potential shift in strategy from the opposition. Speaking to Geo News, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leader Talha Mehmood warned that if the disgruntled PTI candidates persist, the government and opposition would contest the elections as a united front.
He disclosed that this contingency plan emerged from a joint meeting attended by KP Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur, alongside leaders from the PPP, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F), where a seat-sharing formula was finalised.
Meanwhile, PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan underscored the party’s commitment to enforcing discipline. “Those not appointed by PTI founder must withdraw their nominations or face removal by the party,” he said, signaling that the leadership is prepared to take decisive action against the dissenting members.
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