Poll calculations: In club first, bureaucrats head rival panels in Gymkhana elections

Ziaur Rehman and Salman Siddique to compete for post of chairman.

LAHORE:

The next chairman of the Lahore Gymkhana will be a retired bureaucrat, since a former Federal Board of Revenue chairman and a former federal secretary head the rival groups contesting the elections.

Previous elections at the prestigious private club have been largely between a group backed by businessmen and one backed by bureaucrats, but this year both panels are headed by retired bureaucrats, said an outgoing member of the club’s Committee of Management.

Both panel heads are also Rajputs.

Voting for election to the 12-member committee will take place on December 29 and 30. The elected members will then select the chair. Ziaur Rehman, a retired federal secretary, was elected chairman at the last polls.

The traditional panel of bureaucrats, headed by Ziaur Rehman, includes eight candidates who are retired or serving government officials. The panel of businessmen is headed by Salman Siddique, a former chairman of the Federal Board of Revenue. Tycoon Mian Misbahur Rehman is the main player on the business panel, but he announced at a recent gathering at the club that he would back Siddique as chairman.

The Gymkhana election committee – consisting of Justice (retired) Allah Nawaz Cohan, Asad Ali Khan and former Sindh IG Jahangir Mirza – had barred Rehman and Imran Zubair Khawaja from contesting the polls, but the two got a court stay order allowing them to participate

Club members said that the main policy differences between the two panels concerned discipline. Ziaur Rehman is known to favour strict observance of dress codes in the club house. The other group has a more casual attitude, said members.

There are over 4,100 Gymkhana members eligible to vote in the elections and the candidates are posting them letters, brochures and business cards introducing themselves and seeking their votes. Some members complained that they had received 60 text messages from the candidates.

Last year, for the first time in its history, the club outsourced the management of the elections to chartered accountants Ferguson. The company handled all arrangements from balloting to counting and announcement of results. It is likely to be hired to do the same job again this year.

The panel led by Ziaur Rehman includes Dr Zahid Pervaiz, Samiur Rehman, Dr Atif Kazmi, Khalid Rafique, Mian Javed Zahoor, Khawar Khursheed, Major (retired) Fayyaz Bashir, Shaukat Javed, Muhammad Arif Khan, Khawaja Sohail Iftikhar and Sumaira Maroof Khan, five of whom are outgoing Committee of Management members.

The panel led by Salman Siddique includes Mian Misbahur Rehman, Mian Pervaiz Bhandara, Kamran Lashari, Sardar Murad Khan, Justice (retired) Sajjad Ahmed Sipra, Agha Ali Imam, Pervaiz Bashir Agha, Sarmad Saeed, Shafqat Rana, Khawaja Imran Zubair and Ehsan Qadir.

Independent candidates Qamar Bobby, Nasir Arshad, Malik Muzaffar, Qazi Mueenuddin and Kazim Ali are also contesting the elections.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 23^rd, 2012.