ISLAMABAD/LAHORE: Fifty-seven candidates will be vying for 22 seats of the Pakistan Bar Council (PBC), as the eminent body of lawyers goes to polls today (Wednesday) at the provincial bar councils.
According to Attorney General for Pakistan Anwarul Haq, who is the ex-officio chairman of the PBC and also the returning officer, 57 candidates would be in the run from all provinces. Members of provincial bar councils will be voting to elect 22 PBC members from their respective provinces – one from Balochistan, four from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 11 from Punjab and six from Sindh.
The polling would take place at all four provincial capitals and the official results would be announced on December 31, 2010.
Today’s polls are being seen as a contest between pro-government and pro-judiciary candidates, and both sides are actively engaged to turn tables on the other.
The pro-government candidates are likely to take lead in polls, and if that happens, pro-judiciary candidates will have no representation in the SCBA, the Punjab Bar Council and the Lahore Bar Association.
Around 75 voters will decide the fate of 30 candidates vying for 11 PBC seats in Punjab.
According to bar pundits, possible winners include Hamid Khan, Muhammad Ahsan Bhoon, Ramazan Chaudhry, Azam Nazir Tarar and Syed Qalbe Hassan, as each has the support of at least six voters of the PbBC.
The elections in Punjab would held at the office of the Punjab advocate general, who will also be the presiding officer for Lahore. The voting will continue from 9am to 3pm.
