PHC Bar Association elects office-bearers

PESHAWAR: Senior lawyer Abdul Latif Afridi was elected president for the third time and Abid Ali as general secretary of the Peshawar High Court Bar Association (PHCBA) here on Saturday.

Abdul Latif Afridi defeated Khalid Mehmood by a margin of 122 votes in the annual PHCBA elections for 2019. As per the results, Abdul Latif Afridi won the office of president by securing 739 votes against 617 votes polled by Khalid Mehmood.

The third contender for the post, Mohibullah Kakakhel, received 160 votes. Abdul Latif Afridi is affiliated with the Malgari Wakeelan, which had entered into an alliance with People’s Lawyers Forum and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz Lawyers Forum.

Abid Ali, a candidate of Grand Alliance, won the election for general secretary by obtaining 1069 votes. His rival Babar Khan Yousafzai got 447 votes. Ali Zaman from Insaf Lawyers Forum won the post of vice-president by securing 603 votes. His rivals, Syed Inayat Shah obtained 553 votes and Mukamil Shah 347 votes. The joint secretary’s office was won by Insaf Lawyers Forum’s Muhammad Furqan Yousafzai, who secured 960 votes against Habibullah Mohmand who polled 532 votes.

For the first time in the PHCBA history, a woman candidate was elected unopposed on the secretary finance seat. Ambreen Gulzar, a candidate of Malgari Wakeelan, an Awami National Party-affiliated lawyers forum, was elected unopposed. Zahir Shah Marwat, an independent candidate, was also elected unopposed for the seat of press secretary.

Insaf Lawyers Forum general secretary Irshad Khan Khalil said that with efforts of ILF, its four candidates have won their seats in the election as Ali Zaman was elected vice-president, Furqan Yousafzai as joint secretary, Ziaullah as library secretary and Quratulain as an executive member.