Mishal Yousafzai of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) won the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Senate by-election for a reserved seat for women by a large margin. This strengthens the party’s position in the provincial assembly.
The voting took place on Thursday at the KP Assembly. Yousafzai won a commanding 86 votes to become a member of the upper house of Parliament. After Dr. Sania Nishtar, a former PTI senator, left to work for an international organization, the seat became open.
The members of the provincial assembly cast a total of 115 votes in the by-election. The main competitors were the ruling PTI and the opposition parties.
- Mishal Yousafzai (PTI) got 86 votes.
- Azra Fazal Pechuho (PPP) got 29 votes, making her the runner-up and the opposition alliance’s candidate.
The PTI-backed candidate won by a wide margin, which shows that the party has a majority in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly. The polling went smoothly under the watchful eye of the Provincial Election Commissioner.
Political Significance
The PTI’s victory is important because it lets the party keep a key Senate seat in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, which is where the party is strongest. Dr. Sania Nishtar, a well-known person for her work on the Ehsaas social safety program, used to hold the seat.
The election of Mishal Yousafzai keeps the party’s representation in the Senate from KP the same. PTI members celebrated her win because they see it as proof that the people of the province still want their party in power.
The by-election is the last step in filling the empty Senate seats from the province for the current term. This makes the political landscape in the upper house more stable.
