ECP withdraws notification declaring Murad Saeed’s Senate seat vacant

ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has withdrawn its notification declaring a Senate seat from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa vacant following the disqualification of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Murad Saeed, ruling that no constitutional vacancy had occurred because he never took the oath of office as a senator.

The three-member bench, headed by Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja and comprising members Nisar Ahmed Durrani and Shah Muhammad Jatoi, issued the written order on an application filed by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) MPA Jalal Khan. The commission also cancelled the schedule for the proposed by-election.

Saeed was declared a returned candidate in the Senate elections held on July 21, 2025. However, the ECP noted that under Articles 65 and 255(3) of the Constitution, an elected representative does not assume constitutional office until taking the mandatory oath.

On March 7, 2026, an Anti-Terrorism Court convicted Saeed in connection with a May 9-related case, leading to a disqualification application under Article 63(1)(h).

The ECP clarified that Saeed remained a “returned candidate” under Section 124 of the Elections Act, 2017, and had not entered upon office as a sitting senator. Therefore, his subsequent disqualification could not legally result in a vacant seat under Articles 219(b) and 224(5).

The commission had initially de-notified Saeed, declared the seat vacant and issued a schedule for a by-election, with polling set for April 23, 2026. The process was later suspended after Jalal Khan challenged the legal basis for treating the seat as vacant.

Jalal Khan’s counsel, Barrister Muhammad Yasin Raza Khan, argued before the commission that Saeed had never taken the oath or signed the relevant register and, therefore, could not be treated as a sitting senator whose disqualification had created a casual vacancy.

The ECP accepted the application and, through its order signed on August 20, 2026, rescinded its April 2, 2026 notification declaring the seat vacant and concluded the proceedings relating to the proposed KP Senate by-election.

The commission held that since Saeed had never constitutionally assumed the office of senator, his disqualification did not result in a Senate seat falling vacant under the law.