HYDERABAD, Nov 14: Elections for PPP-dominated Hyderabad chapter of High Court Bar Association (HCBA) will no more be stale and promise an interesting fight after entry of Yusuf Leghari, former advocate general of Sindh as candidate for the president’s slot, and formation of seemingly unlikely electoral alignments.
The elections, twice put off for various reasons over the past two years, are now scheduled for Nov 17, Saturday.
The HCBA has been dominated by pro-PPP lawyers for years. The present HCBA president, Allah Bachayo Soomro, who is additional advocate general and divisional office-bearer of People’s Lawyers Forum is in the run for the presidential slot but he supports Nisar Durrani, president of the Hyderabad District Bar Association (HDBA) and member of the Sindh Bar Council (SBC) for the president’s office.
“Our candidate is Nisar Durrani for the president’s and Hameedullah Dahiri for the general secretary’s slots,” said Mr Soomro.
Other candidates for the president’s seat are Zahoor A. Baloch, sitting HCBA general secretary and Sindh PML-F office-bearer and Yusuf Leghari, commonly known as Mama Yusuf Leghari, former AG Sindh. Candidates for general secretary are Aurangzeb Talpur of PML-N, Ayaz Tunio and Hameedullah Dahiri.
Interestingly, Mr Baloch, sitting PML-N Sindh Lawyers Forum president, has failed to win support of his own party colleague, Abdul Sattar Kazi, who commands considerable influence among lawyers.
Kazi is taking sides with Leghari and Ayaz Tunio. Kazi is a former PPP diehard who was sacked in 2005 when he sided with an opponent of a PPP-backed candidate in HDBA polls.
“Elections of bar and party are two different things that’s why I think election scenario in HCBA has changed with the entry of Yusuf Leghari. Zahoor might not be getting votes of lawyers belonging to Sanghar, Mirpurkhas, Badin and Tando Adam,” he said.
“Talks are going on between Leghari and Baloch about who should finally contest polls against PPP’s candidate,” he said.
Nisar Durrani supported Asma Jehangir-backed candidate Mian Israr in recent Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) polls while Ayaz Tunio and Kazi backed Hamid Khan group’s Awais Ahmed. Nisar Durrani and Tunio were active in lawyers’ movement.
If Leghari had not jumped into the fray, it would have proved a one-to-one contest.
Durrani and Baloch appeared to concur on one point — ‘Hyderabad-based lawyer’ should win main slots of HCBA. “I believe main slots should be won by those who are residents of Hyderabad district. As far as Leghari is concerned he is not even member of our parent bar, the HDBA,” argues Durrani.
Baloch agrees. He said that such “seasonal candidates” must be discouraged.
Leghari, who represented President Asif Zardari and his father Hakim Ali Zardari in a case, faces strong opposition from PPP’s lawyers. He disagrees with Durrani and Baloch.
“It is an attempt to discredit me and these people want to exploit votes of Hyderabad. Members of HCBA come from different districts and it doesn’t matter if I am not member of HDBA,” said Leghari who hails from Mirpurkhas.
He said that he was not much interested in elections though. “Friends approached me to break this state of inertness in the bar so I decided to contest,” he said.
Soomro said that Leghari had unnecessary jumped into the fray. His group has been defeated in Mirpurkhas district bar and in Pakistan Bar Council by lawyers backed by Salahuddin Panwhar’s group. “He is perhaps trying to create some space for him,” he said.
According to Ayaz Tunio, “it is Leghari-Tunio duo who will make election a tough fight for rivals”.
He blamed PPP’s influential personalities for influencing voters in HCBA’s elections to rally support for the ‘sarkari panel’.
Tunio has been quite instrumental in registration of an FIR recently against Sindh minister and district PPP president Zahid Bhurgari and other leaders.
About 611 of 1000 registered voters will cast votes.