Two-member BHC bench stays PCB chairman's elections

A two-member bench of the Balochistan High Court (BHC) on Monday stayed the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman's elections that were scheduled to take place tomorrow (Tuesday).

The stay order was issued till July 17 by a bench comprising Justice Naeem Akhtar Afghan and Justice Muhammad Aamir Nawaz Rana. The orders were issued on a petition filed by PCB management committee member Gul Mohammad Kakar challenging the elections.

The bench also issued notices to the prime minister, Ministry of Inter Provincial Coordination and chairman candidate Zaka Ashraf.

The court's intervention has added more controversy to the appointment for the PCB’s top job.

Following the BHC order, the PCB also postponed the elections it had scheduled for tomorrow.  

Earlier, the PCB chairman's post was a bone of contention between the ruling coalition partners Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP).

The PPP wanted former PCB chairman Zaka Ashraf to return to the post, while the PML-N wanted now defunct Management Committee chairman Najam Sethi to continue his job at the PCB.

The PPP's stance on the matter is that since its minister heads the Inter-Provincial Coordination Division and PCB is related to the ministry, its chairman should be appointed by the party.

However, the path was cleared for PPP's nominee Ashraf to return as PCB chairman after Sethi pulled out of the race.

Earlier this month, Sethi announced he was not running for the post as he did not want to be a "bone of contention" between the partners in the coalition government.

Citing the atmosphere of uncertainty and instability as inconducive for the board, he said he had decided to step aside from the race for the PCB's chairmanship.

"I don’t want to be a bone of contention between Asif Zardari and Shehbaz Sharif," he had tweeted.

After Sethi’s exit, Ahmed Shehzad Farooq Rana was named the acting chairman and election commissioner for the Chairman’s election.

And as per his duties, last week, the PCB, under Rana’s leadership, announced that the elections for the top post would be held on Tuesday (June 27).

In a statement, the PCB said that the election for the chairman’s post would be held at its headquarters in Lahore.

The PCB, in the initial statement, had announced that the polls will be held on June 28 but changed the date to June 27 after the government announced a public holiday on Wednesday.

The date for the elections was announced after the sport’s governing body in Pakistan shared that the Rana had formed the PCB’s Board of Governors after the completion of the Management Committee’s dissolution. The board was formed “in accordance with Para 10 of the PCB Constitution 2014” and in line with a letter sent by the Ministry of Inter-Provincial Coordination (IPC) regarding the management committee.

The board members include PCB Patron Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif's nominees Muhammad Zaka Ashraf and Mustafa Ramday, National Bank of Pakistan, State Bank of Pakistan, Sui Northern Gas Pipeline Limited (SNGPL), Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC), president Larkana Region, president Dera Murad Jamali Region, president Bahawalpur Region and president Hyderabad Region.