LAHORE: Four lawyers are trying to be the Professional Group of Lawyers (PGL) candidate for president of the Lahore High Court Bar Association, including one who previously backed the rival Asma Jahangir Group (AJG), The Express Tribune has learnt.
While Advocate Shehram Sarwar is almost certain to be the AJG’s candidate and has already begun campaigning to become the next LHCBA head, the PGL is still considering which candidate to back for the elections on the last Saturday of February.
Hamid Khan, the leader of the PGL, said that the matter had been discussed and he would consult his colleagues again when he returns to Lahore from Islamabad (where he is attending a meeting of the Tehreek-i-Insaf’s Central Executive Committee) on Monday. He said that the group would likely announce its candidate in a week or so.
Three candidates for the PGL ticket are Raja Javed Iqbal, Sayed Muhammad Shah and Shafqat Mahmood Chohan, all of whom are already aligned with the group. But a fourth lawyer, Aslam Buttar, proposed his candidature at the last PGL meeting at the Lahore Gymkhana last month, said sources who were there.
The sources said that several members voiced strong reservations about nominating Buttar at the Gymkhana meeting, reasoning that the group would look weak if it fielded a candidate from outside the ranks.
Buttar told The Express Tribune that though he supported the AJG in the Supreme Court Bar Association Elections, he was not a formal part of the group. He said he had his own group – the Democratic Lawyers Alliance and would contest the election from that platform. He said he did not want to name his supporters until after the other two groups name their candidates.
Buttar is believed to have the support of former LHCBA president Mian Abdul Quddoos, Pakistan Bar Council member Maqsood Buttar, and former Lahore Bar Association president Sajid Bashir. The latter two are with the AJG, and supporters of the group worry that Buttar’s candidature will split their vote.
Javed Iqbal Raja has the support of LHCBA president Asghar Gill. He said the PGL had considered nominating Buttar but decided against it because of the concerns of senior members. He said he was “hopeful” he would be nominated. Muhammad Shah has the support of former LHCBA president Pir Kaleem Ahmed Khurshid. He said that when members of the AJG like Maqsood Buttar had already announced their backing for Aslam Buttar, it would be wrong for the PGL to nominate him.
Shafqat Mahmood Chohan is allied with Advocate Ahmed Awais and Ziaullah Manj.
Advocate Hafiz Insarul Haq of the AJG said that the group would announce Sarwar’s candidature next week.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 14th, 2011.
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