LAHORE, Sept 20; As many as 1,218 voters will elect four Chamber Class executive committee members during the first phase of Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry election on Wednesday (today). Eight candidates — Murad Ashraf, Yaqub Tahir Izhar, Mian Muhammad Usman, Wisal A. Monnoo, Fareedullah Qureshi, Fiazul Hassan Qureshi, Muhammad Nasir and Munir Ahmed Khan — are contesting the election for the four seats.

Thirteen candidates will contest the four Associate Class of the chamber executive committee on Thursday (tomorrow). They are Mian Abuzar Shad, Ahmed Fazil, Khamas Saeed, Shafqat Saeed Piracha, Sheikh Ahmed Nazar, Khwaja Jawwad Ahmed, Waseem Iqbal, Sarwar Khan, Rasheed Anwar and Omer Tanveer Malik. As many as 9,902 voters will cast their votes for the four seats.

Muhammad Amjad Chaudhry has been elected for one executive committee seat reserved for trade groups unopposed.

The PIAF-Founders Alliance, already enjoying majority support in the existing LCCI Executive Committee, is expected to sweep the elections as its main rival, The Founders, have announced to boycott the election.

Announcing the boycott at a press conference at the Lahore Club on Tuesday afternoon, a Founders spokesman Haji Muhammad Asif alleged that the elections were not fair because the entire polling staff belonged to its rival group, voters had been registered without national tax numbers and six persons nominated for scrutiny of voters had not been allowed to do it.

PIAF-Founder Alliance Steering Committee Chairman Mian Muhammad Ashraf said that the Founders had boycotted the election after reading writing on the wall. He said that the Founders were never serious in contesting election as they had neither conducted any campaign nor published any sticker or displayed any banner for canvassing.