KARACHI, Dec 11: The handing over of the working of Pakistan Engineering Council (PEC) to an un-elected 13-member nominated managing committee by the President through an ordinance on Nov 16 is an autocratic move which should be revoked forthwith, former office-bearers of the PEC said on Wednesday.

Speaking at the Karachi Press Club, former convener central public relations committee of the PEC, Engineer Jamshaid Rizvi, said that the only representative organization of over eighty thousands professional engineers in the country had come into being in 1976 through the Pakistan Engineering Council Act. Now, its handing-over to non-representative persons through a presidential ordinance amounted to undermining the sovereignty of the council, he added.

He claimed that the move was ill-timed as the process to elect new office-bearers of the PEC was underway and all members had been issued ballot-papers and the government sabotaged the process.

“The contestant for the next month’s presidential election of the PEC was renowned nuclear scientist Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan and over 80,000 engineers of the country would have voted in his favour, however the whole process was sabotaged which would be detrimental to the growth of science and technology in the country,” he remarked.

He alleged that a few people in the establishment were hatching a conspiracy against the PEC, as they felt that they could not influence the working of the PEC and the only way to drive a mileage was in removing the elected representatives and bring forward un-elected people, he maintained.

He demanded of the government to immediately withdraw the ordinance promulgated on Nov 15, 2002, and restore the previous position of the PEC, besides rejuvenating the suspended electoral process.

Mr Rizvi said that despite protest by the PEC against appointment of non-engineers as vice-chancellors of engineering universities, one armymen and an air force official were inducted as vice-chancellors of engineering universities of Lahore and Peshawar.

Engineer Farhat Adil, a former member of the executive committee of the PEC, was also present.—PPI