LAHORE: The Lahore Bar Association (LBA) is all set to hold elections for its new cabinet for the term 2025-26 today, with over 200 lawyer licenses suspended due to allegations of vote-buying, commonly known as horse-trading.
The election will see competition between candidates from two main rival factions: the professional group, led by Hamid Khan, and the independent group, commonly referred to as the Asma Jahangir group. Additionally, two independent candidates are also in the race for the LBA presidency. Notably, all four candidates vying for the presidency are current members of the Punjab Bar Council (PbBC), the provincial regulatory body for lawyers.
Mubashir Rehman Chaudhry, representing the professional group, will compete against Mian Faiz Ali, who is backed by the independent Asma Jahangir group. Adeeb Aslam Bhindar and Irfan Hayat Bajwa are also contesting as independent candidates for the prestigious post.
A total of 14,712 voters are eligible to cast their ballots in the election, which will be supervised by the LBA election board chairman, Chaudhry Imran Masood. However, the PbBC recently declared over 200 lawyers ineligible to vote due to their involvement in alleged vote-buying activities. Among the affected lawyers are several female members of the bar.
The vice-presidency positions will see a six-candidate race, with three candidates from the Model Town and Cantonment courts competing for each position. For the two secretary positions, six candidates are in the fray, including Junaid Haider Ansari, Shoaib Ashraf Bhatti, and others.
In addition, the joint secretary post will be contested by Samina Basra, Shujaat Ali Khan, and Shakil Ishaq Khan. The position of finance secretary will also see a three-way contest. For the library secretary role, Samina Khokhar, a female contender, is among the three candidates. Finally, Raheela Hafeez Rana and Prof Attique Ahmed Khan are competing for the auditor’s post.
The elections are expected to be a highly contested affair, with the suspension of lawyer licenses adding further complexity to the proceedings.
