Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) President Khalid Firoz on Thursday resigned from his office with immediate effect. KCCI Senior Vice President Abdul Majeed Memon will act as the chamber president till the election of the new president, to be scheduled later.
The dramatic move is the result of ongoing immense pressure from the Businessmen Group (Teli) against the verdict of the Director of Trade Organisation (DTO), which had asked Khalid Firoz to continue for another period as per the rule of the memorandum of association of the chamber.
The Chamber had amended the memorandum, extending the tenure of the office of the president from one-year to two-year and sent the same to the DTO for approval.
Meanwhile, the management of the chamber held the election for one-year term, as the approval of the DTO was not consented by then. The management accordingly amended the memorandum again, clipping the two-year term to one-year and again sent the amendment to the WTO for approval. The WTO rejected the second amendment, approved the first amendment, making the term of the president for two years, which by then was not acceptable for the ruling businessman group. The chamber management moved the court but lost the case as the president was allowed to complete the term of two years as per the memorandum of association.