BAHAWALPUR: The PPP’s Mian Nawazish Ali Peerzada has been elected president of the Bahawalpur High Court Bar Association.

Peerzada obtained 999 votes while his opponent Shafi Tariq secured 660 votes.

Peerzada, former PPP ticket-holder for a National Assembly seat, is the president of Peoples Youth Organisation and mainly practises in Lahore.

Shabbir Ahmed Bhutta was elected senior vice president with 977 votes defeating his rival Shahid Fahim who got 873 votes.

For vice president seat, reserved for district Rahim Yar Khan, Qurban Baloch was declared winner with 891 votes while Mian Faizul Hassan remained runner-up with 792 votes.

Rao Nasir Mehmood secured 1,118 votes and was elected as secretary general defeating his closest rival Mahar Ahmed Shair Kathia who obtained 564 votes.

JI: Jamaat-i-Islami naib emir Asadullah Bhutto says the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) should proceed fearlessly against the corrupt politicians and bureaucrats without any distinction.

Addressing a press conference here, he said former Gen Zahid Akbar had been let off after a plea bargain of Rs200m and asked the supreme court to take its suo motu notice of the deal. He said the previous and present rulers were utilising the state funds mercilessly and the country was under debt of $375bn. He said country’s capitalists had deposits of $70bn in the foreign banks and they should be forced to bring the looted wealth back to the country.

Mr Bhutto said the JI, during its campaign against corruption, starting from March 1 (tomorrow), would stage demonstrations and sit-ins to demand elimination of corruption from the country.

Published in Dawn, February 29th, 2016