On August 18, 2025, Punjab Senior Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb announced that PML-N senior leader and Adviser to the Prime Minister on Inter-Provincial Coordination, Rana Sanaullah, will contest the Senate by-election for a vacant general seat from Punjab. The election, scheduled for September 9, follows the disqualification of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Senator Ejaz Chaudhry.
The Senate seat became vacant after the Election Commission of Pakistan disqualified Ejaz Chaudhry in July 2025. An anti-terrorism court in Lahore sentenced him to 10 years in prison for his involvement in the May 9, 2023, riots on Sherpao Bridge. Aurangzeb confirmed, “PML-N Supremo Nawaz Sharif has awarded the Senate general seat ticket from the Punjab Assembly to Sanaullah.”
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The riots erupted on May 9, 2023, following the arrest of PTI founding chairman Imran Khan by paramilitary forces on orders from the National Accountability Bureau in a corruption case. PTI supporters staged nationwide protests, damaging public and private properties, attacking military installations like the General Headquarters in Rawalpindi and the Lahore Corps Commander’s House (Jinnah House), and desecrating martyrs’ relics. Authorities vowed to impose strict penalties under laws, including the Army Act, for those involved in the violence.
Khan, ousted as prime minister in April 2022 via a no-confidence motion, has faced multiple charges, including corruption and terrorism, since his removal. The May 9 incidents have intensified scrutiny on PTI leadership, culminating in Chaudhry’s disqualification and the upcoming by-election.
