Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) and Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) have decided to boycott the by-election to be held for a Senate seat on May 6. PPP and MQM-P have fielded Waqar Mehdi and Nighat Mirza as their candidates for the election, respectively. The PPP has a clear-cut majority in the Sindh Assembly as of total 168 members of the assembly, 116 belong to the party, while 36 belong to the MQM-P. Polling will take place in the provincial assembly under the supervision of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP). Earlier, it was expected that the MQM-P’s candidate would stand down in favour of the PPP candidate so that the latter could get elected unopposed. The MQM-P had even assured the PPP at a meeting that took place at the former’s headquarters that its candidate would not compete for the seat. However, later to the dismay of the PPP, the MQM-P candidate filed her nomination papers.