Polling underway for Sindh’s vacant Senate seat

KARACHI: The polling on by-election for the vacant general seat of the Senate from Sindh is underway at the Sindh Assembly. Voting started at 9:00am and will continue without break until 4:00pm in the Sindh Assembly Hall. The seat fell vacant following the passing of senior Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leader Senator Taj Haider. PPP has nominated Senator Waqar Mehdi as its candidate, while Nighat Mirza is contesting on behalf of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM). According to current Assembly numbers, 116 PPP members and 36 MQM members are eligible to vote. However, independent members backed by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) have boycotted the election. PTI's parliamentary leader, Shabbir Ali Qureshi, stated that none of their members will participate in the voting.