Daily Times

The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) candidate Syed Waqar Mehdi was elected unopposed as the newest member of the country’s Upper House of Parliament on Saturday. In a notification issued by the Provincial Election Commissioner Aijaz Anwer Chohan, the election on the seat vacated by the PPP’s Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar was due to be held. However, when no one stepped forward to contest the polls, Mehdi was elected unopposed. It was said that the PPP had struck a deal with the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) under which the latter would withdraw their candidate for the Senate seat. Sindh Information Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon, while congratulating Mehdi, said the election was a continuation of former president and PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari’s reconciliation policy. Memon said that his party had a majority in the Sindh Assembly and Mehdi could have won easily, but the PPP’s vision is to take everyone forward together. He said that PPP today again brought another political worker to the upper house which is a success of the party’s ideology. Talking to the media, Sindh Minister for Local Government (LG) Syed Nasir Hussain said that the name of MQM-P’s Abdul Waseem is being considered for the position of Karachi Administrator. He also said that negotiations were underway to include MQM-P in the Sindh government.