LHCBA elections: Candidates woo lawyers as polls approach

Eleven candidates vying for four seats of the LHCBA executive.

LAHORE:

Although the code of conduct for the Lahore High Court Bar Association elections, scheduled for February 23, is being enforced in letter and spirit, the candidates are bent on buying voters’ support, The Express Tribune has learnt.

Unlike the previous years, no candidate has put up banners or hoardings. They have also not given lavish luncheons once mandatory for the candidates ahead of the elections. In the past, at least every presidential candidate had to host two luncheons and several tea parties at the bar courtyard.

However, ahead of the appointment of Election Commissioner Advocate Waqar Hasan Meer in January, several candidates had paid the annual dues of voters by December 31. They also paid dues of new members.

It is learnt that all three presidential candidates have paid dues of about 1,000 lawyers. The candidates are paying Rs5,000 per month to their badge-wearing campaigners.

Advocate Hafiz Insarul Haq, chief supporter of presidential candidate Abid Saqi, told The Express Tribune the election commissioner was very strict and insisting on the code. He said they could not organise even tea parties at the bar courtyard that were previously routine. He said this was a welcome development as such meetings had ruined the bar traditions and made the election campaigns very expensive. He said previously, it was necessary for every presidential candidate to hold luncheons at Baba Ground and at the LHCBA room, but this sort of functions were banned this year. He said in the past too, some election commissioners banned luncheons, nobody had respected the ban.

Haq said giving meals to campaigners on the election day was, however, not banned. He said it was true that the candidates had been paying dues of voters every year.



Eleven candidates are vying for four seats of the LHCBA executive. For the presidential slot, Syed Muhammad Shah, Abid Saqi and Shafqat Mahmood Chohan are contesting the poll. Shah is the candidate of the Hamid Khan group, Saqi of the Asma Jahangir group. Chohan is an independent but claims support from several groups in the bar. For vice president, Qayyum Tahir Chaudhry and Chaudhry Ghulam Sarwar Nehang are in the run. Nehang is claiming the support of the Hamid Khan group. Chaudhry is claiming the support of Mian Israr, the president of the Supreme Court Bar Association. Mian Shehzad Khadim Manday, Baleeghuzzaman and Chaudhry Latif Sarra are candidates for secretary. Feroza Malik, Shabnam Aslam Nagi and Usman Sher Gondal are candidates for finance secretary.

The presidential candidates have to pay a Rs130,000 fee each, the candidates for VP and secretary Rs100,000 and the candidates for finance secretary Rs 60,000.

There are 18,895voters this year. Last year, they were 15,682. There are 3,574 members in default of dues payment. They were 4,622 last year. The number of female members has increased to 1,209 from 1,087 last year. There are as many as 11,027 life members and 11,442 regular members.

The polling would start at 9am and would continue till 6pm with a one-hour break from 2pm to 3pm. The voters must carry their CNICs and the identity card issued by the bar. Those caught trying to cast another’s vote would be fined Rs5,000. Candidate cannot display stickers, banners or hoardings at the LHC compound, Fane Road, Turner Road, Mozang Road, Mauj Darya Road or GPO Chowk. Violation of this rule can earn disqualification for the candidates. The candidates have to end their campaigns 24 hours ahead of the polling. Candidates cannot offer meals to voters except on the polling day. CCTV cameras and LEDs would be installed to ensure fairness of polling.

Javed Iqbal Raja appointed as Election Commissioner

The Supreme Court Bar Association Secretary Javed Iqbal Raja has been appointed as the new Election Commissioner for Lahore High Court Bar Association election scheduled for February 23.

Waqar Hassan Mir had resigned on Tuesday (February 19) from the chairmanship in protest after a general house meeting of the LHCBA approved an amendment in the code of conduct set by the board for the annual election of 2013-14. In a statement issued on Wednesday, LHCBA Secretary Sardar Akbar Ali Dogar said that Raja had been appointed as chairman of the board to hold the election.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 21^st, 2013.