• ECP finalises arrangements for polling in Sindh Assembly
• PTI announces boycott of election process

KARACHI: Polling for the by-election on a Senate general seat that fell vacant after the demise of senior Pakistan Peoples Party leader Taj Haider is scheduled to be held in the Sindh Assembly on Tuesday (today).

The ruling PPP and the opposition Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) have nominated Waqar Mehdi and Nighat Mirza, respectively.

The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) did not field any candidate and on Monday it announced boycotting the polling process as well.

Recently, a PPP delegation had visited the temporary headquarters of the MQM-P in Bahadurabad and requested the party leadership to support its candidate Waqar Mehdi.

However, the MQM-P has decided to contest the election, despite the fact that it lacked numeric majority to win the vacant seat.

With 118 MPAs in the 168-strong house, the PPP is the largest parliamentary group in the Sindh Assembly, followed by the MQM-P (37), PTI (five), Jamaat-i-Islami (one) and three independent candidates. Three MPAs-elect of the Grand Democratic Alliance and one from JI have not taken the oath yet.

Keeping in view the numeric strength of parliamentary parties in the Sindh Assembly, Mr Mehdi, the general secretary of the PPP-Sindh, is set to emerge victorious against former Senator Mirza of the MQM-P.

ECP officials visit PA

The Sindh Assembly has been declared as the polling station for the Senate election and all arrangements have been finalised to ensure smooth polling.

Sindh Election Commissioner Aijaz Anwar Chohan, who is the returning officer, visited the provincial assembly building along with polling officers on Monday and reviewed the arrangements.

Accompanied by the Sindh Assembly secretary, he issued instructions to the staff concerned to make the voting process transparent and peaceful.

PTI boycotts polling

The parliamentary party of the PTI in the Sindh Assembly on Monday announced its decision to boycott the by-election. A meeting, chaired by party’s parliamentary party leader Shabbir Qureshi, announced that no PTI lawmakers would participate in the electoral process.

“All PTI members have been issued an official letter regarding the [parliamentary party] decision,” a brief statement issued by the party said.

Declaring the PPP and the MQM-P as “mandate thieves”, the party rejected the Senate by-elections and alleged that the two parties had undermined democratic values.

It may be noted that Senator Taj Haider had passed away on April 8 in Karachi. He was elected a senator on a PPP ticket from a Senate general seat in Sindh in March 2021 for a period of six years.

Officials said that the candidate to be elected on Tuesday will serve as a member of the Senate for a period of around two years until March 2027.

Published in Dawn, May 6th, 2025