PTI's Mashal wins K-P Senate seat

Ruling party candidate gets 86 votes; opposition's Mehtab Zafar receives 53

PESHAWAR:

The ruling PTI successfully defended its female Senate seat from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) on Thursday, with its candidate Mashal Azam Yousafzai securing a decisive victory over the joint opposition candidate.

The by-election was held to fill the seat vacated by the resignation of PTI's Dr Sania Nishtar. In the polling held at the K-P Assembly, Yousafzai garnered 86 votes, while the opposition's joint candidate Mehtab Zafar, received 53 votes.

The voting also produced a surprise when Saima Khalid, a PTI member, who contested as an independent, secured one vote. In all, 143 out of 145 members cast their ballots, with one member each from the treasury and the opposition remaining absent.

The polling began at 11am after a two-hour delay and continued uninterrupted until 4pm. Speaker Babar Saleem Swati was the first to cast the ballot. During the vote count, three votes were declared invalid.

The election was preceded by intense political manoeuvring until the last minute. K-P Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur engaged in lengthy, but ultimately unsuccessful, negotiations with Opposition Leader Dr Ibadullah for uncontested victory for Yousafzai.

Following the breakdown of the talks, the opposition parties strategically fielded Mehtab Zafar as their consensus candidate, which prompted the withdrawal of Sobia Shahid and Shazia. the PTI members expressed jubilation upon the announcement of the election results.