Elections of Punjab University’s Academic Staff Association (ASA) will be held on Thursday (today), with three different groups of teachers taking part. The ASA is one of the oldest teacher’s bodies of Punjab University and is entitled with protecting the rights of its faculty members. These will be the first elections of the ASA since Dr Zafar Mueen Nasar took the charge of the vice chancellor’s office in December last year.
The Teachers’ Alliance, the Teachers’ Front, and the Academic Alliance are the three groups contesting the elections, and a tough contest is expected between the Teachers’ Alliance and the Teachers’ Front. The Teacher’s Front won the last two elections amid poll rigging accusations by the Teacher’s Alliance against the university’s administration at the time.
Talking to Pakistan Today, the Teachers’ Alliance candidate for general secretary Iftikhar Ahmad Tarar said that former vice chancellor Dr Mujahid Kamran had influenced the results of the last two elections towards his favourites. “The incumbent VC seems to be unbiased so far and we are hopeful that the elections will be fair this time,” he said. “After winning the elections, we will expedite the process of promoting our colleagues, something which hasn’t happened for some years now,” he added.
The rival group’s candidate for general secretary, Dr Mahboob Hussain, told this scribe that the group would strive hard to obtain free healthcare facilities for faculty members after if they win again. “The university’s town-3 project will also thrive under our leadership,” he added.
Teachers Alliance:
Javed Sami from the Department of Space Science is the presidential candidate of the Teachers’ Alliance while Iftikhar Ahmad Tarar of the university’s law college is contesting for the post of general secretary. Other Alliance candidates for the ASA panel are Prof Shahid Ghazi (Vice President Science), Dr Asghar Iqbal (VP Arts), Tariq Mahmood Butt (Treasurer) and Dr Muhammad Islam (Joint Secretary).
The candidates from the Alliance group for executive member posts are Dr Amjad Abbas Khan, Dr Majid Majeed Akbar, Dr Imran Din, Hamid Ch, Nisar Ahmad, Malik Fiaz Hussain Ferdosi, Dr Saiqa Ishtiaq, and Murtaza Yousaf.
Teachers Front:
Prof Sajid Rashid Ahmad from the College of Earth and Environmental Sciences is the presidential candidate of the Teachers’ Front while the post of general secretary is being vied for by Dr Mahboob Hussain of the History Department. Other candidates of the panel are Prof Rizwan Akram Rana (Vice President Arts), Dr Nadeem Sheikh (VP Science), Dr Sayyid Salman Rizvi (Joint Secretary), and Dr Azhar Naeem (Treasurer).
Prof Ahmed Ali Shahid, Dr Irfan Ahmed Sheikh, Khalid Mahmood, Dr Ayub Faridi, Ch Naeem Ullah Khan, Shabbir Sarwar, Dr Ahmed Bilal, and Dr Misbah Sultana will be contesting to become executive members from the Teachers’ Front.
A 6-member election commission under the chairmanship of Prof Javed Iqbal Qazi (Department of Zoology Chairman) will conduct the polling in which around 700 permanent faculty members of the university are expected to cast their votes.