The number of voting members of the Lahore High Court Bar Association (LHCBA) has decreased by 1,628 over last year even though 1,138 new voters have been registered ahead of the bar elections scheduled for February 22.
The LHCBA has 17,267 voting members. In 2013, the number was 18,895 voters.
Shafqat Mahmood Chohan, a presidential candidate, told The Express Tribune that this was partly because 2,000 dual memberships [registered twice or more] had been settled. Another 427 members had died in the previous year, he said.
LHCBA Secretary Balighuzaman Chaudhry denied that the number had gone down because of dual memberships or those who had died. “The actual reason… is that most of the bar members have not paid their dues to be able to vote,” he said.
“In the past, some candidates have been paying the dues for the voters… this year they did not pay for members from Faisalabad, Sargodha and Gujranwala… thinking they might not participate in the elections to press their demand for establishing LHC benches in their divisions,” he said.
According to LHCBA records, there are 6,280 LHCBA members with outstanding dues. Most of them are from Gujranwala, Faisalabad and Sargodha. The annual fee is Rs500. There are 11,985 life members who do need not to pay the fee in order to vote.
Candidates
Shafqat Mahmood Chohan and former LHCBA president Muhammad Naeem are running for president, according to the final list.
Chohan belongs to the Professional Group of Lawyers headed by Hamid Khan. Naeem has support from the Asma Jahangir Group. Chohan has twice contested for the LHCBA president and lost.
Amir Jalil Siddiqui and M Irfan Sheikh are running for vice president. Mian Asghar Ali, Zahid Sikandar Sheikh, Mian Ahmad Chachar and Mian Umar Farooq are candidates for secretary. Nabeela Manzoor Jafri, Mian Iqbal and Syed Akhtar Sherazi will contest for finance secretary.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 14th, 2014.