Independent Group wins SCBA election

Abbasi says he will try his best to resolve issues of legal fraternity, with special focus on welfare of fellow member

ISLAMABAD/ LAHORE: Fazal-e-Haq Abbasi of the Independent Group, led by Asma Jahangir, was elected president of the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) for 2014-15 defeating Abdul Sattar Khan of the Professional Group of Hamid Khan by a narrow margin Friday night.

Abbasi polled 1,007 votes against 961 of his rival, according to unofficial results. Both the candidates belonged to Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. This is the fifth consecutive win for the Independent Group in the SCBA elections.

The polling was held at 10 polling stations — Lahore, Karachi, Islamabad/Rawalpindi, Peshawar, Quetta, Abbottabad, Hyderabad, Sukkur, Bahawalpur, Multan — from 9am to 5pm with one hour break from 1pm to 2pm. The lawyers took part in the election with traditional zeal and enthusiasm at all polling stations, especially at the Supreme Court Bar Association in Lahore Registry.

Habib Tahir Khan, Syed Sardar Hussain and Shabbir Ahmad Awan were elected vice-presidents from Balochistan, K-P and Sindh, respectively. Shah Abbas had already been elected unopposed vice president from Punjab.

For the office of secretary, two candidates – Chaudhry Muhammad Maqsood Ahmad and Muhammad Aslam Pervez Mian – were in the run. The former, however, was elected, bagging 467 votes against 369 of his rival. Similarly, Sanaullah Zahid defeated rival Qari Abdul Rashid to grab the post of additional secretary. Syed Anwar Ahmad Shah notched the slot of finance secretary.

Talking to the media after the unofficial results were announced, Abbasi said he would try his best to resolve the issues of the legal fraternity, with a special focus on the welfare of fellow members. He said he would also push for a housing colony for lawyers.

The fifth consecutive victory for the Asma Jahangir-led Independent Group shows that the legal fraternity supports the continuity of the current political system in the country. This time, however, the ‘ethnic factor’ also played a key role in the SCBA election which has been described by analysts as a ‘setback’. Fazal-i-Haq Abbasi is Hindko speaking and belongs to Abbottabad district. This is why he could grab only 32 out of the total 149 votes in Peshawar. Similarly, Abbasi’s rival Abdul Sattar Khan, an ethnic Pakhtun, got only 9 out the total 40 votes in Abbottabad.

Outgoing SCBA president Kamran Murtaza lamented that the ‘ethnic factor’ also played a role in SCBA politics.

He said that during his tenure the bar played a pivotal role in support of the present political system as he had got an order from the Supreme Court, restraining all government authorities from taking any extra-constitutional step in view of the prevailing political impasse. “Pakistan’s future lies in a sustained democratic process,” Murtaza said.

Another member of the Independent Group, however, said that despite their support to the government in the ongoing political crisis, Attorney General for Pakistan Salman Aslam Butt backed the rival Professional Group due to his affiliation with Hamid Khan. He added that lawyers from the PPP fully supported the Independent Group throughout the country.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 1^st, 2014.