RCCI polls in December

The fresh elections for 14 seats of the executive committee of the Rawalpindi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (RCCI) have been scheduled for December 13, while the election of president and his two deputies will be held on December 19.
S M Naseem, former RCCI president has been named as returning officer while Qazi Faiz and Mukhtar Ahmed have been nominated as scrutinisers and Abdul Malik will assist the scrutinisers. Pervaiz Sadiq, Saqib Dawood, Hakeem Qureshi and Muneer Ahmed Mughal have been nominated as polling officers and Mian Zafar Hameed as assistant to the polling officers.
According to election schedule more than 3,000 members and associate members of the chamber would elect 14 executive committee members, as they would retire on December 31.
The final election schedule would be announced on November 3 by the returning officer and final list of the members would be put on display on November 21. The nomination papers would be received on November 28 and the final list of the contesting candidates would be displayed on December 6.
Polling would be held in the chamber on December 13 in which members of the chamber would use their franchise to elect 14 executive committee members. The polling would be held from 10 am to 4 pm in the chamber building and results would be announced on the same day.
The election for the three posts of senior executives including president, senior vice president and vice president would be held on December 19. The annual general meeting of the RCCI would be held on December 24 and present cabinet would retire on December 31.
It is worth mentioning that the ministry of commerce has removed the Trade Organisations Ordinance (TOO) and asked the chambers to hold elections of this year under the old article of understanding while the TOO would be enacted from next year.
Under TOO the elections of all seats of executive committee, and president and his two deputies would be held directly by members' vote. The TOO was rejected by the trade bodies demanding the amendment in this ordinance causing harm to the unity of the business community.
Meanwhile, when asked about the forthcoming elections, the president of the RCCI, Dr Hasan Sarosh told Business Recorder that management of the chamber would leave no stone unturned for holding the elections in a transparent and fair way. "I am sure that all the members of the chamber would cooperate with us in this process and would keep the dignity and honour of the chamber in mind", he added.
He assured to hold the elections in a free, fair and transparent manner and said that it is tradition of the chamber to hold elections of the chamber to elect new leadership for the business community of the region through a democratic process.
He said that this is prudent leadership of RCCI, which laid foundation of Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) and Islamabad Stock Exchange and established dry port in this region. "Establishment of Smeda office in chamber premises is ample proof of our commitment to the business community", he said.
Two groups of the business men of Rawalpindi including Mian Pervaiz Aslam Group led by former RCCI president Mian Pervaiz Aslam and Business Group led by former president Suhail A Sethi are taking part in the elections. Mian Pervaiz Aslam Group is ruling the chamber since its inception.