KARACHI, Aug 16: The leadership crisis faced by the Fishermen Cooperative Society (FCS) has taken a new turn as a senior-most director of the Society has called for handing over the control of the FCS to elected directors who are real representatives of the fishermen communities.

The newly-elected director from Shamspir/Yunisabad, Haji Mohammad Yunus, urged the Sindh government to stop "interference" in the affairs of the society and allow the elected representatives to choose their own leadership.

Talking to Dawn, he regretted that despite the fact that the elections for the seven seats reserved for the elected directors of the society had been held on March 4 and the results were also announced, but the government was still reluctant to convene the meeting of the board of directors to elect a new chairman and vice-chairman.

According to him, the elections for these two important offices should have been held soon after the completion of the March 4 election as the government had already announced a list of its nominees.

He argued that the FCS is a private and non-government organization of the fishermen which is established for welfare purpose. However, he regretted that "undue interference" by the ruling parties by appointing political nominees as chairmen of the Society in the past had caused a harm to the society financially.

Haji Yunus said during the past three decades, these political nominees instead of serving fishermen community had always preferred their party interests and overburdened the society financially by illegal appointments.

He urged the provincial government not to impose political nominees on the society and allow the elected directors to choose their own leaders. The fishermen representative also criticized the role of different government agencies for harassing the poor despite the fact they contribute a handsome revenue to the government's exchequer.

Despite this, he said neither the federal, nor provincial government had made any contribution to the welfare activities of society. Considering this fact, he suggested that the government should leave the matter to the elected directors.