Friends Group sweeps PUTA elections

PESHAWAR: The Friends Group on Tuesday swept the Peshawar University Teachers Association (PUTA) elections as the rival conglomerate of Tanzim-e-Asatiza, the Intellectuals and the Progressive, failed to grab even a single seat in the 14-member body of the association.

Prof Dr Jamil Chitali became the president of the body for a record fifth time by bagging 301 ballots against the 169 of his rival Dr Altaf Qadir.

Dr Mohammad Iqbal Jadoon secured 289 votes against the 183 of Dr Suleman Khan and was elected the general secretary of PUTA.

Dr Mohammad Uzair secured 334 votes, the largest number on all positions, and became the vice-president of the association. His rival Sajjad Ahmad Jan could get only 137 votes. Dr Mohammad Farooq was elected as joint secretary, who bagged 327 votes, while his rival candidate Dr Fazli Khuda secured 139 votes.

Dr Nadeem Iqbal was chosen as finance secretary of the association with 315 ballots, while his opponent Faisal Khan secured 147 votes.

Dr Syed Owais was elected as literary secretary, who bagged 303 votes and his rival Dr Kafeel Ahmad got 163 votes. Israil was elected with 322 votes as the sports secretary, while his rival Dr Shaukat Ali could get 143 votes. Dr Kashif Gul was chosen as media secretary with 293 votes and his rival Dr Fazal Hadi could get 193 votes.

Similarly, for the four executive members (general), Dr Minhas Majeed Khan, Dr Fayaz Ali, Dr Mohammad Taieb and Dr Roohullah emerged victorious by bagging 291, 291, 255 and 291 votes respectively. The other contestants for the offices included Arif Khan, former president PUTA, Dr Fazlur Rahman, Dr Huma Javed and Dr Muhammad Nafees, who failed badly.

For the office of vice-president women, Dr Amina Rahat was declared victorious with 275 votes against the 187 of his rival Dr Shahnaz Parveen Khattak. Moreover, for the office of executive (woman) Seema Gul emerged victorious with 291 votes against the 175 of Dr Imrana Seemi.

All the victorious candidates belonged to the Friend Group. The elections were held in a peaceful manner under the supervision of Prof Dr Yorid Ahsan Zia.

Talking to The News, the newly elected president of the association, Dr Jamil Ahmad, expressed his gratitude to the teaching fraternity of the university for reposing great confidence in him. He said that there was great unrest among the teachers, who expressed their desperation through ballots.

He said that the university employees had great expectations from the new body of the PUTA and they would try their best to come up to the expectations of the teaching and non-teaching staff of the institution.