The Arbitration Tribunal of the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) on Friday said, "as the things stand today" the amendment process initiated by Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) "is not yet completed without the approval of the competent authority of Government of Pakistan." The Arbitration Tribunal of the FPCCI in its short order said: "as such the term of the President of the Respondent (KCCI), as per their Articles, remains for two years."

The Arbitration Tribunal of the FPCCI, consisted of Chairman Akbar Abdullah, Member Jamshed Qureshi, Member Sardar Muhammad Ashraf Khan, and the Registrar, Amir Hussain Siddiqui.

Meanwhile, the KCCI has made all arrangements to hold its annual election on Saturday, September 25.

Four candidates are in the run for the slot of President and there are 31 candidates for 14 managing committee Member Class seats.

There are 18 polling booths for male voters and one for female voters. There are 8520 registered voters, of whom around 400 are women.

Car parking arrangement has been made at Railway Stadium. There will be a shuttle bus service to bring the voters from parking ground to the chamber and return.

Canvassing within voting area is prohibited. National Identity Card, or passport or driving licence is necessary, along with chamber membership card, to be shown for using right of vote.

Polling will start at 9.30am and will continue till 6.30pm, with one-hour interval from 1 to 2 pm for lunch and prayer.

Vote counting will start at 7pm.

The four candidates for the slot of President are S Khalid Tawab, of Businessmen Alliance (S M Munir supported group), and Khaild Firoz Arfeen of Businessmen Group (Siraj Kassam Teli supported group), Muzzaffar Saeed and M Siddiq Qasim (independent).

Managing committee candidates include: Businessmen Group - Muhammad Jawad Bilwani, Mian Abrar Ahmed, H.M.Shahzad, Mohammed Naqi Bari, Hafeez Aziz, Javed Ahmed Vohra, Mohammed Ibrahim Kasumbi, Mohammed Ali, Tariq Malik, Shakeel ur Rehman, Sultan Mahmood, Muhammad Suleman Chawala,m Moazzam Hayat Paracha, and Mohd Younsuf Surawala.

Businessmen Alliance - Mohammed Siddiq, Nadeem A Kushtiwala, S H Manzar Alam, Jaffer Abdul Sattar Kudia, Shahbaz Alki Malik, Naveed Gul, Ahmed Chinoy, Amir Iqbal, Asif Abdul Majeed, Kamran Riaz, Khurram Khalil, Altaf Majeed ST, Alamgir A Shaikh and Muhammad Asif Khan.

Independents: Saad Khalid, Mohammad Imroz and Muhammad Kashif Ahmed.

The managing committee members of KCCI will elect Senior Vice President and Vice President on Wednesday, September 29.

This is for the first time that the president will be elected by a direct vote. Up till now the president used to be elected by managing committee members. The annual general meeting of KCCI will be held on September 30.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2004