Govt set to appoint election commissioner for PCB post

ISLAMABAD: The Ministry for Inter-Provincial Coordination (IPC) has forwarded two names for the prime minister’s approval out of which one will be appointed as the election commissioner to conduct the election for Board’s chairman.

Renowned lawyers of Supreme Court Qazi Mohammad Bashir and Ahmad Shahzad Farooq Rana are the two names that have been forwarded for prime minister’s approval.

“One name will be chosen to conduct the PCB chairman’s election following the completion of Electoral College of the PCB Governing Board, in line with the 2014 constitution,” a well-placed source told ‘The News’.

He said that since the prime minister is patron-in-chief of the PCB, he reserves all the authority to change the name and appoint anyone of his liking.

Though it would be nothing more than a formality as chairman of the Management Committee Najam Sethi is all set to take over as the elected chairman, the election to the office of chairman PCB is all the more important as with the election the practical implementation of the 2014 constitution would complete. The PCB Management Committee has been given 120 days to streamline its affairs and bring the cricket system back to the 2014 constitution.

The first task of the committee will be to complete the PCB Governing Board formation in accordance with the 2014 constitution where besides four members from regions, there is a requirement to elect four members from cricket playing departments. Since disbanding of the department during the Ehsan Mani’s tenure, departments have been struggling to raise their cricket units and some have even put curtains on their sports activities. The PCB Management Committee has recently written a letter to 27 leading departments, seeking their interest in participating in the PCB Domestic Season 2023-24, which will start in August.

The letters were dispatched to the departments on behalf of Najam Sethi, Chairman of the PCB Management Committee, in accordance with the PCB Constitution 2014 and on the specific instructions of PCB’s Patron, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who is keen to see the return of the department to play their integral role in the growth and development of Pakistan cricket.

In the letters, the PCB has not only invited the departments to confirm their participation in the upcoming season at their earliest convenience which can help them prepare the season’s calendar. One other reason that was not mentioned in the PCB letter is to know which department is ready for cricket activities so that it should be picked (on rotation bases) to become part of the PCB Governing Board.

It is not clear yet which four regions will be made part of the Board. Whether the PCB Committee would follow the broken pattern, which ensured every region's involvement-turn by turn, or would evolve a totally new system.

As is the practice, the names of two Governing Board members will come directly from the Patron (PM) while expectations are there that the Ministry of IPC would be having a far greater role in the PCB affairs this time around.

The ministry is totally calling the shots in the Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) affairs while their role in the PCB affairs is minimal. Both boards came into being on the same pattern. However, for a more active role of the Ministry in PCB affairs, there is a requirement to amend some constitutional clauses.