ISLAMABAD: After a long winning streak, the Journalist Panel suffered a significant setback, losing four out of the 10 executive body seats to the combined opposition group fighting under the banner of Democrats Panel in the National Press Club (NPC) elections for the year 2026-27.

The Journalist Panel lost the key seats of the president as well the general secretary to the Democrats along with two vice presidents.

Abdul Razzaq Sial became the president of the NPC for 2026-27, obtaining 1,067 votes, defeating Nayyer Ali with a narrow margin as she got 1,052 votes.

Dr Furqan Rao of the Democrats Panel became the secretary bagging 1,024 votes against Khalid Mahmood, the key rival belonging to the Journalist Panel, who got 1,002 votes.

Abid Abbasi of Journalist Panel became the finance secretary with 1,061 votes while Khawar Nawaz Raja got 1,032 votes.

For the post of the three vice presidents, the winners are: Ehteshamul Haq, 1,202 votes (Journalist Panel) and Bashir Chaudhry (1,076 votes) and Usman Khan (1,015 votes), both belonging to the Democrats Panel.

The winner for the slot of vice president (female) is Sehrish Qureshi who bagged 1,049 votes.

The winners of all the three posts of joint secretaries are from the Journalist Panel – Sheraz Ali Gardezi (1,228 votes), Aon Sherazi (1,121 votes) and Javed Bhagat (865 votes). Moreover, Shakeela Jalil was elected as the joint secretary (female) with 1,162 votes.

The counting for the executive members will be held later.

Office-bearers felicitated

Leaders of the opposition parties in parliament felicitated the new elected office-bearers and said the NPC was an important institution for promoting journalism in the country and protecting rights of journalists.

Head of Tehreek Tahaffuz-i-Aain Pakistan and Leader of the Opposition in National Assembly Mahmood Khan Achakzai along with Leader of the Opposition in the Senate Allama Nasir Abbas and other opposition leaders congratulated the newly-elected NPC body.

They said the victory of Abdul Razzaq Sial (president), Dr Furqan Rao 9secretary), Abid Abbasi (finance secretary) and other candidates reflected the trust reposed in them by the journalist community.

They expressed hope that the newly-elected leadership would fulfil its responsibilities effectively for the welfare of the journalist community, professional freedom and the strengthening of Democrats values.

In another statement, Speaker National Assembly Sardar Ayaz Sadiq also congratulated the newly-elected leadership of NPC.

Mr Sadiq said the NPC had long served as a strong fortress of freedom of expression and independent journalism in the country. Mr Sadiq said the government firmly believed in freedom of the press, and expressed confidence that the newly-elected leadership of the press club would live up to the trust placed in them by the journalist community.

Published in Dawn, March 15th, 2026