PTI, MQMP not to take part in Senate polls from Sindh today

KARACHI: The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) on Tuesday announced not to take part in the election on a vacant Senate seat from Sindh that will be held today (Wednesday).

The seat had fallen vacant after the disqualification of PTI leader Faisal Vawda, who had concealed his dual nationality at the time of filing nomination papers. Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) provincial president Nisar Khuhro is in a position to win the Senate seat easily because of having 99 seats in the 168-strong Sindh Assembly.

Khuhro is the Advisor of the Chief Minister of Sindh on Works & Services and also on Universities & Boards since 2019, with the status of a provincial minister. PTI has fielded its provincial vice-president Agha Arsalan for the seat.

The PTI has 30, the MQM-P 21, Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA) 14, Tehreek Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) has three seats and the Jamaat-e-Islami got only one seat among the remaining 69 seats of the opposition parties in the provincial assembly.

On Tuesday night, PTI Sindh President and Federal Minister Ali Zaidi in a tweet said the PTI and its allies are boycotting the senate polls. “Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah also disqualified on dual nationality and his case is still pending with the Supreme Court,” said Zaidi, giving the reason for boycotting the Senate polls. Zaidi also requested the higher judiciary to hear CM Shah’s dual nationality case.

On Tuesday, MQM-P also announced to boycott the Senate polls. It was decided in a meeting of the party’s coordination committee presided by convener Dr Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui, according to the party’s spokesperson.

On February 19, an MQM-P’s former MNA Khawaja Sohail Mansoor, who submitted the nomination papers for Senate polls, had announced his resignation in favour of PPP’s candidate leader Khuhro in the Senate elections. However, the MQM-P had said that the party is not contesting the Senate polls and it was Masnoor’s own decision to submit the nomination papers and withdraw it in favour of the PPP.