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Tuesday March 19, 2024

LHCBA elections today

LAHOREAbout 19,672 voters would decide the fate of 10 aspirants for four seats of Lahore High Court Bar Association (LHCBA) representatives in its elections on Saturday (today).Election Board Chairman Shehzad Shaukat on Friday announced that lawyers could cast their vote through biometric and manual ballots. He said they had taken

By our correspondents
February 28, 2015
LAHORE
About 19,672 voters would decide the fate of 10 aspirants for four seats of Lahore High Court Bar Association (LHCBA) representatives in its elections on Saturday (today).
Election Board Chairman Shehzad Shaukat on Friday announced that lawyers could cast their vote through biometric and manual ballots. He said they had taken the decision to ensure that all voters have cast their votes. He said with the passage of time, they would try to enter data of all members for biometric voting.
For four slots including each for president, vice president, secretary and finance secretary there are 10 candidates in the field. Two each for president, vice president and secretary and four for finance secretary. Importance is given to the seats of president and secretary on which lawyers groups focus. For the presidential slot, Muhammad Shahid Maqbool Sheikh and Pir Muhammad Masood Chishti are contestant. PPP senator Babar Awan is supporting presidential candidate Pir Muhammad Masood Chishti while another PPP senator Kazim Khan is supporting the other presidential candidate Muhammad Shahid Maqbool Sheikh. Sheikh is a candidate of Professional Group of Lawyers headed by Advocate Hamid Khan. LHCBA president Shafqat Chohan, Advocate Mian Israr and Advocate Ahmed Awais are among his supporters. The other presidential candidate, Masood Chishti, former member of Punjab Bar Council and Punjab law secretary, is supported by Ahsan Bhoon Group including Asma Jahangir, Azam Nazir Tarar, Ch Naeem and Abid Saqi. PML-N advocates Naseer Bhutta and Khawaja Mahmood Ahmed are also supporting him. Bar pundits predicted Chishti’s victory.
For the seat of secretary, Mohammad Ahmad Qayyum (son of Justice (r) Muhammad Qayyum) and Mian Asghar Ali are in the arena. Kazim Khan and former LHCBA president Abid Saqi, a PPP activist, are supporting Mohammad Ahmad Qayyum. All PML-N lawyers are also supporting him as he is nephew of PML-N MNA Malik Parvaiz. Supporters of Ahmad Qayyum included Asma Jahangir, and Rana Mashhood group. Ahmed Qayyum had announced his candidature for this slot three years back but withdrew few days ahead of election owning to large number of his anti elements in the bar due to his father’s anti-lawyers agenda.
The other candidate for the slot of secretary Mian Asghar Ali is supported by Hamid Khan Group. He participated in last year’s election but lost.
There are two candidates for the seat of vice president including Ms Suphia Masood and Muhammad Irfan Arif Sheikh. Sheikh is a repeater as he participated in last year’s election but lost.
Four candidates are for the slot of finance secretary including Azeem Akram, Nabeela Manzoor Jafri, Amina Ajmal and Syed Akhtar Hussain Sherazi. Jafri and Sherazi are repeaters as they lost elections last year.
The members of the LHCBA are 24,730, however, voters are 19,672. LHCBA president Shafqat Chohan had announced that the voting would be through biometrics and no one would be allowed to cast votes through manual voting. However so far 11,100 voters have their data for biometrics voting and the chairman election board announced manual balloting in addition to the biometrics.