KARACHI, Jan 9: The Election Commission on Friday finalized arrangements for holding by-election on the vacant Senate seat from Sindh on Saturday. The polling will take place in the Sindh Assembly building from 9am to 4pm.

The ruling coalition, which has a strength of 99 votes in a house of 168, has fielded Dr Mohammed Ali Brohi as its candidate. The PPP, which is main opposition party in the assembly, failed to turn the election into a one-to-one contest as the MMA refused to withdraw its candidate Mohammed Hashim Siddiqui in favour of the PPP's nominee.

A meeting between the PPP and MMA terminated on the note that the alliance would inform the PPP about their decision after consultations with its high-command. Present at the meeting were PPP's Nisar Ahmad Khuhro, Shah Mohammed Shah and Karim Ahmad Khwaja, and MMA's Maulana Asadullah Bhutto, Allama Hasan Turabi, Maulana Asad Thanvi, Maulana Abdul Karim Abid and Mr Siddiqui.

Mr Siddiqui told Dawn that their talks with the PPP had failed and the MMA had decided to boycott the election. Four candidates submitted their retirement papers to the election commission on Friday, leaving three candidates in the run.

Those who submitted their retirement papers were Syed Shahabuddin Shah and Mohammed Azeem Chaudhry of the PML, Mohammed Abrarul Haque of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement and Javed Jabbar of the National Alliance.

The three contestants are: Dr Brohi of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), who has been adopted as the consensus candidate by the ruling coalition, Mr Khwaja of the PPP, and Mr Siddiqui of the MMA.

The electoral college comprises 168 members of the Sindh Assembly with the following party position: PPP, 60 members; Mohajir Qaumi Movement, 1; MMA, 8; MQM, 41; PML 31; NA, 16; PPP-Patriots, 5; PPP rebel, 2; MMA rebel, 2; and independents, 2.

The ruling coalition parliamentary party met at the Governor's House on Friday. Sources close to the Chief Minister's House told Dawn that 86 MPAs attended the meeting and four others joined later.

The meeting adopted Dr Brohi as the consensus candidate of the coalition parties and formulated strategy for the voting. It was decided that all members would converge in the chamber of the chief minister in the Sindh Assembly at 9.30am from where they would go in sub-groups to cast vote.

The PPP also decided that their members would converge in the chamber of the opposition leader in the Sindh Assembly before the polling.