LAHORE – The campaign for the Lahore High Court bar Association (LHCBA) polls, scheduled for February 26 has reached its peak with all groups promising lawyers welfare programme in a bid to win the polls at any cost. The corner meetings, tea parties, luncheons, dinner, elections campaign and traditional propaganda tools are being employed in a cut throat competition between Presidential candidate Rai Bashir Ahmed and his rival Asghar Ali Gill. Rai Bashir Ahmed is candidate of Friends Alliance of Babar Awan and PPP’s other lawyers’ bodies while Asghar Ali Gill is being backed by Hamid Khan’s professional group.
The pundits of the lawyers’ community told Pakistan Today that the lawyers lobbies backed by Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) are leading the show and they are likely to win the polls as they have in recent elections of other bar associations and bar councils of the country in 2010 and 2011. The voters and supporters of Hamid group while talking to told Pakistan Today alleged that PPP government and federal law minister Babar Awan are injecting huge funds from the national exchequer into election campaign of PPP’s candidate Rai Bashir Ahmed to control bars to pressurize judiciary.
However, the bar’s senior voter Muhammad Azhar Siddique told Pakistan Today that this time elections are being held on basis of lawyers welfare programmes and each candidates has pledged to provide all possible facilities for the community including medical facilities after winning the polls. The voters said cost of the election campaign of each presidential candidate has crossed over Rs 11 million because winning the bar president’s seat is as important as wining the seat of MPA and MNA due to its role in the bar politics, bench and the government relations.
They said the expenditure includes renewal of voters’ memberships by paying their outstanding dues, cost of travel across Punjab to meet voters of the bar in other cities, publication of election bill cards, get-togethers, dinner parties and arrangements for transport to bring voters to Lahore on elections day.
Experts of the bar politics say LHCBA polls will be the last chance for pro judiciary Hamid Khan Group to be counted in the bar politics or stand in the face of the PPP lawyers lobbies backed by SCBA president Asma jahangir, PCO judges and federal law minister Babar Awan and funded by national exchequer.
The judges removed by judicial commission are supporting PPP lawyers while those removed by parliamentary committee are with the Hamid khan group being victim of PPP dominated parliament. Bashir is sitting member of Punjab bar council (PbBC) and member of the judicial commission (JC) while Asghar is former vice chairman of PbBC and has been former president of LHCBA. Thought it looks strange but In 2010 and early 2011 professional Group of Hamid Khan in has lost all top slots in elections of Punjab bar council (PbBC), Pakistan bar Council (PBC), Lahore Bar Association, (LBA), Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) and PPP backed lawyers have took control of the all bar in a pretty dramatic way.
It is worth mentioning that in January 2011 with the support of PPP’s Muhammad Lehrasib Gondal got elected Punjab Bar Council’s vice chairman and again in January 2011, PPP-backed candidate, Abdul Latif Afridi, was elected the Pakistan Bar Council vice chairman while earlier in 2010 Asma Jahangir won slot of SCBA president by PPP backing defeating Hamid Khan’s pro judiciary candidates.
