High Court Bar: Candidates for top offices throw lavish luncheons
The main idea behind the dinners, luncheons and breakfasts, is to display show of strength.
LAHORE:
Electoral campaigns for Lahore High Court Bar Association (LHCBA) are in full swing with candidates, particularly those contesting for president and secretary, hosting lavish meals to woo voters.
Apart from elaborate menus, the main idea behind the dinners, luncheons and breakfasts, is to display show of strength by inviting and convincing a large number of lawyers to attend.
Two presidential candidates - Asghar Ali Gill and Rai Bashir - hosted dinners for their voters on Wednesday night. Gill had arranged the dinner in front of the Supreme Court Bar Association building while Bashir had made arrangements at a hotel.
Among prominent participants at Gill’s function were Advocate Hamid Khan, Advocate Akram Sheikh, Punjab Assembly deputy speaker Rana Mashood, Ahmed Awais, Kaleem Ahmed Khursheed, CM Sarwar who was representing Aitzaz Ahsan, LHCBA president Mian Abdul Qudoos, secretary Babar Murtaza, and finance secretary Sajid Hanif. Advocate Hafiz Abdul Rehman Insari, and Pakistan Bar Council member Burhan Muazzam Malik are also supporting Gill. Gill has previously been a member and then vice chairman of the Punjab Bar Council and was later elected as president of the Lahore Bar Association.
At Bashir’s function, prominent participants included Supreme Court Bar Association president Asma Jahangir; Pakistan Bar Council members Muhammad Ahsan Bhoon, Azam Nazir Tarar, Ramazan Chaudhry and Maqsood Buttar; Zahid Hussain Bukhari; and Punjab Bar Council vice chairman Lehrasib Gondal.
Bashir was elected as vice president and secretary of the LBA. He lost election to the PbBC in 1999. He is currently a member of the Judicial Commission. He is also chairman of Khatam-e-Nabuwwat Lawyers Forum. The forum published an 8-page pamphlet containing hate material in October 2010 before the Supreme Court Bar Association election.
Both presidential candidates have spent huge amounts in a bid to win the elections. According to an estimate, between the two of them, they have spent Rs5.5 million only to clear annual dues of their voters.
“Lawyers believe that in order to contest the LHCBA election, the presidential candidate will need at least Rs10 million, vice president Rs1.5 million and secretary general Rs2 million, to woo enough voters,” a lawyer said while requesting anonymity.
Although senior members of the bar term the trend of paying members’ fees as undemocratic and pre poll rigging, no one has acted to discourage such practices. “Such practices have brought corruption to the bar since the representatives have to ‘struggle’ to recover the money they have spent,” said the lawyer. He added that it was a shame that SCBA president Asma Jahangir had demanded the bars to avoid throwing luncheons just a week ago, “but there she was, attending one such event.”
The total number of voting members of the LHCBA is 13,508 out of 18,963 registered voters. The remaining 5,455 have not renewed their memberships. The elections will be held on February 26.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 25th, 2011.
Electoral campaigns for Lahore High Court Bar Association (LHCBA) are in full swing with candidates, particularly those contesting for president and secretary, hosting lavish meals to woo voters.
Apart from elaborate menus, the main idea behind the dinners, luncheons and breakfasts, is to display show of strength by inviting and convincing a large number of lawyers to attend.
Two presidential candidates - Asghar Ali Gill and Rai Bashir - hosted dinners for their voters on Wednesday night. Gill had arranged the dinner in front of the Supreme Court Bar Association building while Bashir had made arrangements at a hotel.
Among prominent participants at Gill’s function were Advocate Hamid Khan, Advocate Akram Sheikh, Punjab Assembly deputy speaker Rana Mashood, Ahmed Awais, Kaleem Ahmed Khursheed, CM Sarwar who was representing Aitzaz Ahsan, LHCBA president Mian Abdul Qudoos, secretary Babar Murtaza, and finance secretary Sajid Hanif. Advocate Hafiz Abdul Rehman Insari, and Pakistan Bar Council member Burhan Muazzam Malik are also supporting Gill. Gill has previously been a member and then vice chairman of the Punjab Bar Council and was later elected as president of the Lahore Bar Association.
At Bashir’s function, prominent participants included Supreme Court Bar Association president Asma Jahangir; Pakistan Bar Council members Muhammad Ahsan Bhoon, Azam Nazir Tarar, Ramazan Chaudhry and Maqsood Buttar; Zahid Hussain Bukhari; and Punjab Bar Council vice chairman Lehrasib Gondal.
Bashir was elected as vice president and secretary of the LBA. He lost election to the PbBC in 1999. He is currently a member of the Judicial Commission. He is also chairman of Khatam-e-Nabuwwat Lawyers Forum. The forum published an 8-page pamphlet containing hate material in October 2010 before the Supreme Court Bar Association election.
Both presidential candidates have spent huge amounts in a bid to win the elections. According to an estimate, between the two of them, they have spent Rs5.5 million only to clear annual dues of their voters.
“Lawyers believe that in order to contest the LHCBA election, the presidential candidate will need at least Rs10 million, vice president Rs1.5 million and secretary general Rs2 million, to woo enough voters,” a lawyer said while requesting anonymity.
Although senior members of the bar term the trend of paying members’ fees as undemocratic and pre poll rigging, no one has acted to discourage such practices. “Such practices have brought corruption to the bar since the representatives have to ‘struggle’ to recover the money they have spent,” said the lawyer. He added that it was a shame that SCBA president Asma Jahangir had demanded the bars to avoid throwing luncheons just a week ago, “but there she was, attending one such event.”
The total number of voting members of the LHCBA is 13,508 out of 18,963 registered voters. The remaining 5,455 have not renewed their memberships. The elections will be held on February 26.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 25th, 2011.