ISLAMABAD: Senior lawyer Abdul Latif Afridi of Independent Group of lawyers, also known as the late Asma Jahangir group, was elected president of the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA).
As per unofficial results, Afridi secured 1,236 votes against 959 voted bagged by his rival Abdul Sattar Khan of the Professional Group led by Hamid Khan.
The group notched the maximum slots of the bar, including those of secretary and vice presidents in Punjab and Sindh. Both candidates for the president’s slot were from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa as per the rotation policy among the provinces.
The Asma Jahangir Group candidate received 69 votes from Peshawar, 69 from Multan, 26 from Abbottabad, 18 from Sukkur, 64 from Quetta, 10 from DI Khan, 32 from Hyderabad, 143 from Karachi, 36 from Bahawalpur, 546 from Lahore and 226 from Islamabad.
The Hamid Khan Group candidate bagged 72 votes from Peshawar, 93 from Multan, 11 from Abbottabad, 12 from Sukkur, 53 from Quetta, 11 from DI Khan, nine from Hyderabad, 118 from Karachi, 39 from Bahawalpur, 377 from Lahore and 164 from Islamabad.
The lawyers’ wings of almost all the political parties, including the PML-N, PPP, and PML-Q supported Afridi. Law Minister Dr Farogh Naseem was supporting the Hamid Khan Group. Insaf Lawyers Forum Chairman Barrister Ali Zafar also backed Afridi. Zafar is among the senior leadership of the Independent Group
PML-N vice president Maryam Nawaz Sharif congratulated Mr Afridi on his success. She tweeted: “Congratulations to Lala Afridi, his panel and Asma Jehangir group on their glorious victory, that too against all odds.”
