PESHAWAR, March 31: Senior advocate Ishtiaq Ibrahim of the lawyers’ panel affiliated with Awami National Party and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz was elected president and independent candidate Mohammad Imran Matta general secretary of the Peshawar High Court Bar Association (PHCBA) in its annual elections.

According to the results announced by election commissioner for the polls, Samad Khan, late on Saturday, Mr Ibrahim received 827 votes against 66 votes of Ameenur Rehman hailing from a multi-party alliance, Lawyers Unity Panel (LUP).

Mr Ibrahim is former additional advocate general whereas Mr Rehman has twice served as general secretary of the association.

Arbab Kaleemullah of LUP was elected vice-president by getting 489 votes against 409 votes of Mohammad Adil. Similarly, Mr Matta bagged 603 votes to clinch the slot of general secretary. His rival Nauroz Khan could manage 553 votes.

Khalid Hameed and Mohammad Hayat of the two-party alliance were elected joint secretary and finance secretary by getting 729 and 686 votes, respectively.

The post of secretary library went to Khyal Mohammad, while Saeed Khan of PML-N had already been elected press secretary unopposed.

For the two posts of executive members from Peshawar the elected candidates are Habibullah Khan and Syed Nazir. Similarly, other elected executive members include Darul Salam from Nowshera, Inamullah Jan from Charsadda, Ismail Khan from Mardan, Rabnawaz Khan from Swabi, Hamad Azam from Kohat and Hasan Mohmand from Hangu.

A total of 1,892 voters were eligible to participate in the election, while polling stations were set up at Peshawar, Mardan, Nowshera, Charsadda, Swabi and Kohat.

After his victory, Mr Ibrahim said that they would continue the struggle for independence of judiciary and make efforts for the welfare of legal fraternity.

Meanwhile, Awami National Party president Asfandyar Wali Khan on Sunday congratulated the newly-elected PHCBA cabinet and hoped that they would continue their struggle to establish rule of law and uphold democratic norms.

In a statement, he said that the new cabinet under Mr Ibrahim advocate would strive for the supremacy of law.

Other ANP leaders, including Afrasiab Khattak, Arbab Mohammad Tahir and Ghulam Mustafa also greeted the new PHCBA president.

Our Correspondent adds from Bannu: Advocate Shah Hussain of Malgary Wakeelan, affiliated with ANP, was elected president of PHCBA Bannu Bench by receiving 125 votes, while his rival Iftikhar Ahmad could manage 65. Anwarul Haq was elected general secretary with 144 votes against his rival Bashirur Rehman’s 84, while Azizur Rehman was elected vice-president by obtaining 150 votes.