Senate elections in KP to be held on July 21

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has announced a revised schedule for Senate elections in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP). The new polling date is set for July 21, 2025.

According to the official notification, elections will be held for seven general seats, two reserved for women, and two seats for technocrats, including Ulema. Voting will take place at the Provincial Assembly building in Peshawar from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Earlier in March 2024, the ECP had postponed Senate elections in KP after five women MPAs-elect from opposition parties petitioned the court. The High Court directed the Speaker of KP Assembly to administer oaths to lawmakers elected on reserved seats. The Speaker’s failure to do so led to the postponement. Consequently, while Senate elections occurred in other provinces on April 2, 2024, the KP elections were delayed until the oath-taking process was completed.

The ECP has also released schedules for by-elections to fill the Senate seat left vacant by the late Senator Sajid Mir.

In addition, the commission announced a separate polling date of July 31 for a vacant Senate seat reserved for women. This seat became vacant after Senator Dr. Sania Nishtar resigned in October 2024. Her resignation became effective on March 10, 2025, according to Article 64 of the Constitution. Dr. Nishtar previously served as special assistant to the Prime Minister on poverty alleviation and social safety.

Furthermore, the ECP issued a schedule to fill two vacant women’s seats in the National Assembly from KP. These vacancies arose after the exhaustion of the priority list submitted by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N).

During the Senate elections on April 2, 2024, the ruling coalition secured 19 seats in the upper house. The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) won 11 seats, PML-N secured six, while Muttahida Qaumi Movement Pakistan (MQM-P) and independent candidate Faisal Vawda won one seat each.