LAHORE: As many as 16,254 members of the Lahore High Court Bar Association will on Saturday (today) exercise their right of vote in the election for the new body to run the bar affairs in 2018-19. ChaudhryShahidButtar of Professional group and AnwarulHaqPunno of the Independent group are the main contenders for the president’s seat. AazarLatif Khan of a newly-emerging lawyers group called `Reformers’ is also vying for the top seat. Chaudhry Noor Samand Khan, ShaistaQaiser, Rashid Ali Wains and MasoodGujjar are contesting for the office of the vice president. There would be a one-on-one contest for the secretary’s seat between Fayyaz Ahmad Ranjha and Hassan IqbalWarraich. There are five candidates for finance secretary. These are AnsarJamilGujjar, Ahsan A. Sial, Hafiz AllahyarSipra, ZeeshanSulehria, and FarrukhShahzadKamboh. Strict security arrangements have been made to ensure a peaceful election process. The election board chairman JavedIqbal Raja said on Friday that polling would be held using a biometric system at five polling stations from 9am to 5 pm, with a one-hour break at the noon. He said Rangers troopers would be deployed in and outside the LHC building, and only two entry points, at the mosque and on Turner Road, would be used for the entry of voters. No one except registered voters would be allowed to enter the polling stations. The chairman said that election board had learnt that for last many years, lawyers from regional seats of the LHC were casting ballots in the election at the principal seat, adding that the practice would be discontinued this year. “Bar members registered at regional seats in Bahawalpur and Multan will not be eligible to cast votes even if they have got a favourable decision from the Punjab Bar Council.” The chairman explained that separate bodies were elected for regional seats so there was no reason why those registered there should cast ballots in election for the body to run affairs at the principal seat. Published in Daily Times, February 24th 2018.