Mani to follow constitution for PCB chief election

LAHORE: The election of Ehsan Mani, the freshly-nominated chairman of Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), would follow the PCB constitutional protocol with reports that extra recruits in the board will have to go the time the new chairman walks in. For that Mani will be first nominated to the Board of Governors (BoG) followed by his candidacy for the chairmanship.

A BoG, which has a three-year term, comprises 10 members. Two are appointed by the patron and the rest are divided equally between regions and departments. The top four regions and departments in the latest edition of the Quaid-i-Azam trophy get seats in a BoG. Ministry of Inter Provincial Coordination appoints an 11th member, an ex officio, who attends and voices his/her opinion in the meeting but doesn’t have a right to vote.

Once a BoG is formed, any of the 10 members can put forward their candidacy for the post of the chairman. The voting council comprises the entire BoG and the candidate with the most votes becomes the board’s chairman for a term of three years. Despite vacancies in the BoG, the election of the chairman can go ahead. The PCB’s Election Commissioner Justice (R) Afzal Haider already taken over the reins of the board and on Friday held meetings with PCB officials at Gaddafi Stadium.

A PCB statement stated: “The Election Commissioner will work to hold free and fair election of Chairman PCB. Once the election commissioner receives nominations from the Prime Minister, and after the formation of Board of Governors (BoG), the chief election commissioner with deputy election commissioner Ahmed Shahzad Farooq Rana will announce the schedule of election of Chairman PCB next week.

Mani, who was nominated to the position minutes after Najam Sethi posted his resignation to the Prime Minister, just the other day met Imran Khan in Islamabad.

Reports suggested that the two discussed PCB affairs and Mani took the proton’s feed on the ways he wanted the country’s cricket to be run. The prime minister informed Mani about his plans for improvement in national cricket. Imran is believed to have directed the nominated PCB chief to review all affairs of the board from start and it should be run in a better way.

Mani was later quoted by Geo television that affairs relating to cricket came under discussion at the meeting. He said he would have to contest the election for becoming PCB chairman.