The Lahore High Court Bar association (LHCBA) elections for year 2012-13 will be held today. The pro judiciary and pro-government forces will once again take on each other and show support to their respective candidates in the LHCBA elections with several political, legal and judicial forces being at work. The four candidates in the running for the single slot of the Bar President include Aslam Buttar, Shehram Sarwar, Shafqat Mahmood Chohan and Moazzam Iqbal Gill.
The real contest is touted as being between Aslam Buttar, presidential candidate supported by pro judiciary Professional Group of Hamid Khan, and Shehram Sarwar, who is backed by Friends Alliance of former SCBA President Asma Jahangir and PPP lawyers. Shafqat Chohan and Moazzam Gill are contesting as independent candidates.
Shafqat’s case is a bit tricky as he had split from the professional group when wooed by the Hamid group, and he also was denied a ticket for the polls and thus would be spoiling the vote bank of his former group, and in turn benefiting Sarwar. According to chairman of the election board, Aurangzeb Mirza, nine polling booths have been set up at the bar premises and computerised voting lists have been prepared vying to keep abreast with the modern times.
As many as 15,684 eligible members belonging to the entire Punjab province would cast their votes to elect new cabinet of four seats including the LHCBA president, vice president, secretary and finance secretary. The polling start at 9am and it will continue till 5pm, with one hour lunch break at 1pm. On the other hand, the bar has declared 5,411 voters illegible due to non-payment of bar dues.
Those battling it out for the vice president’s position are Afzaal Azeem Pahat and Hafeez-ur-Rehman and the latter is said to have gained the decisive support of the bar members. The eight candidates vying for seat of secretary include; Rana Awais Tuseef and Sardar Akbar Dogar while candidates for finance secretary seat are; Ejaz, Asif Javaid Butt, Rao Zafar Mahmood, Rafila Anjum Minhas, Sheikh Faisal Zaheer, Mateen ul Haq Ch Mian Shahid Shakir and Humaira Butt.
