LAHORE, Dec 27: About 144 members of the Lahore Stock Exchange (LSE) will elect their five directors for the year 2003 on Saturday.

Six candidates are in the run for the election of five directors from among the members of the exchange which has a 10-member board under the new rules announced by the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP). Five candidates — Group Capt (Retd) Naeem Khan, Haji Ghani Haji Usman, Ghulfam Ahmad Khan Sherwani, Mirza Jehanzeb, and Dr Arsalan — are on the panel of the ruling group while Arif Majeed represents the Seth Abid Group.

Under the new rules, four out of the remaining five members will be nominated by the SECP. The managing director of the exchange will be the ex officio member of the board.

The chairman of the exchange will be elected by the board from among the five elected members of the board. The MD is not entitled to cast his vote in the election of the chairman.

In all, the LSE has 151 members. Three have died while membership of as many is suspended on different charges. The remaining 144 members also include 46 corporate members. As many as 29 members belong to Karachi and also hold membership of the KSE.