The polling process began on Saturday in Islamabad and Lahore Bar Associations annual elections, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.
According to the details, for the six seat of Islamabad Bar the polling started at 9:00 am will continue until 4 pm. The polling will be suspended from 1 to 2 pm for a lunch break.
The elections are being held for the posts of president, vice president, secretary, joint secretary, additional secretary and library secretary.
Following the withdrawal of Hafiz Malik Mazhar Javed, the presidential contest has become a four-way race. Chaudhry Naeem Ali Gujar, Raja Yasir Shakeel, Mian Arshad Javed, and Shabana Rafique are now in the running for the top slot.
For the position of Vice President, Irum Rashid and Bilqyas Mahmood Khattak are contesting.
The secretary’s post is being contested between Raja Khawar Dhaniyal and Muhammad Sohail Khurshid Gujar. Sanaullah Bugti and Imran Khan Kakar are competing for the office of Joint Secretary, while Asma Bashir Bangash and Fariha Jafar Bajwa are contesting for the additional secretary.
A one-on-one contest is under way for the post of library secretary between Darnajaf and Syeda Nazish Naqvi.
Security arrangements at the judicial complex have been tightened in view of the elections. Additional security personnel have been deployed to prevent any untoward incident, while strict checking is being carried out at entry points.
The entry of unrelated persons into the judicial complex has been banned to ensure a smooth polling process.
27 candidates contest in LBA annual polls
Polling for eight seats of Lahore Bar Association (LBA) annual elections, being held today, in which 27 candidates are contesting the elections.
According to Imran Masood, the chairman of the association’s election commission, voting will be held from 9 am to 5 pm.
As many as 15,790 eligible members would exercise their right to vote. The polling for the LBA elections would be conducted under a biometric system.
For the president slot, two former members of the Punjab Bar Council are once again facing each other.
Irfan Hayat Bajwa is the candidate of the Hamid Khan-led Professional Group and is contesting for president’s office for the second time.
Ahsan Bhoon-led Independent Group, famously known as Asma Jahangir Group, fielded Adeeb Aslam Bhinder, who is trying his luck for the third time for the same post.
Shahid Jamal Butt is also contesting for the presidency as an independent candidate.
For the two posts of vice president, Chaudhry Mushtaq Jammu, Hafiz Mushtaq Naeemi, Sheikh Kashif Ali, Mian Tahir Munir and Humayun Zaheer Bhatti are in the contest.
For the vice president Model Town seat, Kashif Siddique Gujjar, Naveed Hanif Kamboh and Asif Kanwal Khan are contesting while for the vice president Cantt seat, Zahid Mahmood Gill and Imran Olakh are facing each other.
Shoaib Ashraf Bhatti, Chaudhry Afnan Munawar, Malik Fahad Nisar Khokhar and Rizwan Arshad are contesting for the two seats of secretary.
For the post of joint secretary, Samina Basra, Asad Abbas Sheikh and Salman Raheem Khokhar are in the race. For the finance secretary seat, there is a one-on-one contest between Zohaib Khan and Yasir Nazir.
For the post of library secretary, five candidates, including one woman, are contesting.
These include Samina Khokhar, Arshad Chadhar, Faryad Chaudhry, Talib Naqvi and Nauman Ali Goraya. For the post of auditor, Raheela Hafeez Rana has been elected unopposed.
Foolproof security measures are adopted for the polling day. All roads leading to Aiwan-e-Adl is closed and heavy contingents of police have been deployed around the polling station.
Reporters: Hashir Warraich and Ibrahim Qureshi