ISLAMABAD, Oct 27: Lawyers will elect a president and other office-bearers of the Supreme Court Bar Association on Tuesday.

Ali Ahmed Kurd is pitted against Mohammad Zafar for the main contest. Both candidates hail from Balochistan.

Supporters of Mr Kurd believe, if elected he will give the lawyers’ movement a fresh impetus.

The PPP-led coalition government is putting its weight behind Mohammad Zafar, who happens to be a teacher of Mr Kurd. Mr Zafar is a known and respected jurist, honorary teacher of the Quetta Law College, a practising lawyer and had been president of the Balochistan Bar Association in the 1980s.

He was also member of the Senate on Jamhoori Watan Party ticket in 1994 as a technocrat.

After the SCBA elections, outgoing president Aitzaz Ahsan will continue to spearhead the lawyers’ movement as chairman of the newly formed National Coordination Council.

The association has 1,724 members and a majority of them are from Lahore and Sindh.

Analysts believe that Mr Kurd may face a tough competition in Rawalpindi/Islamabad, Peshawar and Karachi, but will eventually win by comfortably sailing through in Lahore, Multan and Quetta.

They conceded that Attorney General Latif Khosa, who himself had been the president of Multan and Lahore High court bar associations, wields a considerable influence among lawyers in these cities.

Qamar Zaman Qureshi, Shaukat Umar Pirzada and Syed Jamil Ahmed are vying for the seat of secretary.

Abdul Haq Malik, Tajammul Murad and Zulfikar Khalid Maluka are contesting for the post of additional secretary.

For finance secretary Mohammad Rafiq Siddiqui and Sheikh Ahsanuddin are in the field.