Fazal-e-Haq Abbasi of the Independent Group was elected president of the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) for 2014-15.
Abbasi defeated Abdul Sattar Khan of the Professional Group by a narrow margin Friday night. Abbasi polled 1,007 votes, whereas Sattar got 961 votes.
According to unofficial results. Both the candidates belonged to Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KPK). This is the fifth consecutive win for the Independent Group in the SCBA elections.
Earlier, the polling was held from 9am to 5pm with one hour break from 1pm to 2pm at 10 polling stations across the country, Lahore, Karachi, Islamabad/Rawalpindi, Peshawar, Quetta, Abbottabad, Hyderabad, Sukkur, Bahawalpur, Multan.
Talking to the media after the unofficial results were announced, Abbasi said he would try his best to resolve the issues of the legal fraternity, with a special focus on the welfare of fellow members. He said he would also push for a housing colony for lawyers.
The fifth consecutive victory for the Asma Jahangir-led Independent Group shows that the legal fraternity supports the continuity of the current political system in the country.
Habib Tahir Khan, Syed Sardar Hussain and Shabbir Ahmad Awan were elected vice-presidents from Balochistan, KPK and Sindh, respectively. Shah Abbas had already been elected unopposed vice president from Punjab.
For the office of secretary, two candidates – Chaudhry Muhammad Maqsood Ahmad and Muhammad Aslam Pervez Mian – were in the run. The former, however, was elected, bagging 467 votes against 369 of his rival. Similarly, Sanaullah Zahid defeated rival Qari Abdul Rashid to grab the post of additional secretary. Syed Anwar Ahmad Shah notched the slot of finance secretary.
Outgoing SCBA president Kamran Murtaza lamented that the ‘ethnic factor’ also played a role in SCBA politics.
