Saleem Mandviwalla belonging to Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) was elected deputy chairman of Senate on Monday with 54 votes.
Mandviwalla was contesting the polls for deputy chairmanship against Usman Kakar of Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) who had support of the federally ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz among its allies.
Announcement of the winning candidate was made over an hour after the upper house elected Sadiq Sanjrani, backed by the joint opposition as the chairman of the Senate.
Kakar managed to secure 44 votes against Mandviwalla’s 54 votes. Muttahida Qaumi Movement Pakistan (MQMP) did not take part in the polls to elected deputy chairman.
Mandviwalla was elected senator in March 2015 on ticket issued by PPP. He served as the president of the Board of Investment.
He also served as state minister for investment from late 2008 to early 2013. He was the president of Lasbela Chamber and Commerce Industry in Lasbela district of Balochistan.
Mandviwalla served as the finance minister of Pakistan for a brief period of less than four months in 2013.
The lawmaker was born in Karachi in 1959 on January 25 and comes from a well-known family of businessmen.
Mandviwalla was sworn-in minutes after Sanjrani laid out details of the polls and votes secured by each candidate.
