Annual elections of Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) for the year 2015 will be held today (December 29). Polling will be held from 10am to 5pm. There will be election for the posts of FPCCI president, senior vice presidents, four vice presidents, each representing the chamber of commerce and industries of Sindh, Balochistan, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab.
In addition, four more vice presidents will be elected to represent the association of trade and industry.
The nominees of chambers of commerce and industries include women chambers, chamber for small traders, national-level associations, representing industry, trade and services. Two major groups, namely Businessmen Panel (BMP) and United Business Group (UBG), led by Tariq Saeed and Iftikhar Ali Malik, respectively, have fielded their candidates in the election.
Both the groups are optimistic of winning the polls. This year, as per turn, a candidate from Punjab will be elected as president of the FPCCI.
There will be a straight fight between a nominee of BMP, Mian Muhammad Adress and Anjum Nisar (UBP) for the post of FPCCI president.
Similarly, two candidates - Waseem-ur- Rehman and Abdul Rahim Janoo - are in the field for the post of senior vice president.
Moreover, three candidates are in the run for one seat of vice president from Sindh province and they include Mohammad Ikram Rajput, Al-Hajj Dhani Bukhsh Memon and Mahesh Kumar.
Besides, there will be a straight fight between Zaraz Kaleem and Masood Ahmed Majeed for the post of vice president from Punjab. However, three candidates are in the run for one seat of vice president from Khyber Pakhtunkhua and they are: Ahmed Aziz Bilour, Safdar Zaman Shah and Haji Sultan Muhammad Mohmand.
There are two candidates in the run against one seat of vice president from Balochistan and they are: Shahab Zafar and Engr Daroo Khan Achakzai.
Meanwhile, Muhammad Akram Farid has been declared elected unopposed as vice president from federal area.
Eight candidates, who are contesting against four vacant seats of vice presidents, from association of trade and industry are: Abdul Hafeez Mohammad, Muhammad Ilyas, Saquie Fayyaz Magoon, Shahnawaz Ishtiaq, Muhammad Waseem Vohra, Hameed Akhtar Chadda, Zahid Anwar and Ghazanfar Bilour.
Mrs Fehmeeda Kausar Jamali has already been elected unopposed against one post of vice president of Women chamber of commerce and industry.