PPP’s Syed Waqar Mehdi won the by-election held for the vacant general seat of the Senate from the province of Sindh in Karachi on Tuesday, the Associated Press of Pakistan reported.

The ruling PPP and the opposition Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) had 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.

In the by-election held at the Sindh Assembly, Mehdi secured 111 votes, while MQM-P’s Nighat Mirza received 36, and two were rejected, said the returning officer, Provincial Election Commissioner Sindh Ejaz Anwar Chauhan.

The polling was conducted from 9am to 4pm without any break. A total of 149 votes were cast during the scheduled polling time.

The general Senate seat from Sindh province fell vacant after the death of PPP’s Senator Taj Haider 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 had 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.