Leadership: LHCBA elections today

12,879 voters will elect their representatives

LAHORE:

As many as 12,879 Lahore High Court Bar Association (LHCBA) members, registered with a biometric system, would elect their representatives for 2015-16 on Saturday (today).

As many 8,535 members have to register with the system. As many as 5,223 members have been declared ineligible to vote for not paying their dues in time.  Of the 26,431 bar members, 1,304 are women.

Those who became bar members after August 28, 2015, are not eligible to vote because Pakistan Bar Council has ruled that a member needs to be registered with the LHCBA for at least six months to be able to participate in the elections. Last year, the number of eligible voters was 19,672.

Election board of the LHCBA has announced that only lawyers registered with the biometric system would be able to vote this year. “Unlike previous elections, no one will be allowed to vote manually this year,” Advocate Shahzad Shaukat, the election board chairman, had told a press conference a few days ago.

Shaukat had appealed to lawyers to register with the system. He said four mobile teams had been formed for the biometric registration of lawyers. Shaukat said 58 machines would be installed at three locations to facilitate voting. Balloting will be held from 9am to 5pm with a lunch break of an hour. Only lawyers would be allowed on the LHC premises on February 27, he had said.

He said a voter must bring his national identity card (CNIC) and the bar membership card with him. Copies of cards would not be acceptable.

Candidates

Muhammad Ramazan Chaudhry from Bhoon Group and Rana Ziaur Rehman from Professional Group are vying for president.  Six candidates are in the run for vice president. They are Sheikh Sakhawat, MR Awan, Sardar Tahir Shahbaz Khan, Muhammad Saleem, Mian Waseem and Rashid Lodhi. Four candidates in the field for secretary are Jawad Ashraf, Uzma Razzaq Khan, Anas Ghazi and Sharjeel Adnan Sheikh.

A close contest is expected between Anas Ghazi, the son of Justice (r) Nazir Ghazi, and Sharjeel Adnan Sheikh, the son of renowned lawyer Akram Sheikh. Three candidates are vying for finance secretary. They are Syed Asad Bukhari, Deeba Khan and Muhammad Zeeshan Amir.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 27^th,  2016.