By Zahid Khan
Islamabad: Journalist Panel swept annual elections of National Press Club (NPC) Islamabad, winning all top positions of the body on Saturday.
Asim Qadeer Rana, chairman of the Election Committee announced the results. Anwar Raza was elected president as he bagged 1017 votes, outshining his rival Shakeel Qarar of the Azad Journalist Panel by a huge margin of 406 votes. There was a neck-to-neck contest between Journalist Panel Khalil Ahmed Raja and Azad Journalist Panel Dr. Sadia Kamal for the key post of Secretary NPC. However, Raja got 823 votes to edge ahead of his opponent by 52 votes.
As many as thirteen journalists contested elections for three seats of vice presidents. Journalists Panel’s Azhar Jatoi won the election. He obtained 980 votes. Nazir Charan ended up securing 839 votes. He was followed by Ghazanfar Abbas who obtained 825 votes and ended up in the third position. Jatoi, who remained at the top was declared senior vice president.
Journalist Panel Myra Imran was elected vice president on women’s seat as she bagged 939 votes to outsmart her main opponent Irfana Yasir, who got 467 votes. Journalist Panel’s Nayyer Ali was elected as Secretary of Finance. She secured 740 votes. Usman Khan of Azad Journalist Panel obtained 640 votes and ended up in the second position.
As many as twelve candidates contested elections on three slots of joint secretary. Journalist Panel’s Muhammad Aslam Lurka, Waqar Abbasi, and Tallat Farooq clinched these prime seats. They obtained 882, 805, and 791 votes, respectively. Shakeela Jalil won the election for the joint secretary women’s seat. She remained top scorer with 949 votes.
