KARACHI, Oct 26: Amidst confusion and polarization on ethnic lines, some 15,000 member voters of Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) are going to polls on November 12 to elect next president following resignation of incumbent Khalid Feroze.

There is an all-round confusion because the Director Trade Organizations (DTO) had stopped the KCCI earlier from proceeding ahead with election of president, scheduled for September 27, 2995, on the grounds that Mr Khalid was elected in September 2004 for a two-year term and he has completed only one year.

A move made by the KCCI general body to reduce two-year term to one year has not been approved by the federal government and hence the DTO’s instruction to Khalid to continue as president for one more year.

A KCCI general body decided in the year 2003 to elect the president directly on one-member-one-vote principle and for a two-year term. It was made effective from the year 2004. KCCI also observes a convention which is not part of the articles of the association. Under this convention the office of president rotates for every term among Gujratis, Urdu speaking and Punjabis. The offices of president and two vice presidents are shared every year by the representatives of the three communities.

Khalid Feroze represented the Urdu speaking businessmen and his two year term has to be followed by a Punjabi and then a Gujrati. The next president from Urdu speaking would come after five years in 2010 if the principle of a two-year term continues.

As if the decision to give a two-year term to the president was impulsive and riven by sentiments rather than by rationale and reasoning, a big number of businessmen mostly Urdu speaking and Gujratis were struck with a fresh brain wave to reduce it to one year again so that many of the prospective candidates for top office get chance quickly.

Chamber sources say that the dominating group is selecting Haroon Faruqi from the Punjabi speaking community as its candidate for president. The KCCI article of association still stipulate a two-year term and ruling group apparently looks confident of their candidate vacating the office voluntarily.

Moves are also being made to amend the KCCI article of association again to fix one year term for the president. But there is intense polarization on ethnic lines in the chamber and a consensus on any issue is next to impossible.

“The KCCI is now an ethnic Club,” Wasim Vohra, a prominent Chinioti businessman, remarked angrily. Mr Vohra is angry because he said Chiniotis are being ignored by the ruling clique and new members have been enrolled from the Punjabi community who all are yes men.

Businessmen in the ruling coalition doubt if the general body would be able to amend the KCCI articles of association to reduce the term of president’s office to one year. The fear is that if there is no amendment in the KCCI articles of association, the Punjabi speaking president may refuse to resign even if he gives such a pledge in writing. Only a year ago, the president of the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry Riaz Tata had also went back on his written promise and stayed in the office amidst all tension. Private security guards were engaged and police and rangers were called as rival groups expressed security apprehensions against each other.

Khalid Firoze resigned last week to pave the way for election of next president. He is now putting up a brave face to declare that he resigned from the office on his own but his adversaries and friends in the business community assert that he was forced to resign. “There is now a lot of dirt and filth in the chamber,” Khalid Feroze told Dawn in his office on Tuesday. He recounted some of his achievements in last one year which included signing of memoranda of understanding with more than 50 chambers around the world and an understanding of cooperation with Chamber of Birmingham in UK and Naples in Italy to cooperate in research for which the EU is offering grant.

For last many years, the presence of armed guards and policemen and rangers particularly on polling day has become a familiar sight.