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Pakistanis slam PAD poll delay decision

The association polls for the term 2004-2006 that were due to be held on October 10-12 have now been delayed by a month, according to the new announcement made by the executive committee of the association.

Flaying the sudden step taken by the PAD, community leaders, who preferred to remain anonymous, said that they had sent a written protest against the postponement.

“We believe that the reasons presented by the association are weak and lack solid backing,” they said.

Pinpointing discrepancies, they said that the explanation that had been dispatched to newspaper offices had been signed by an office secretary, instead of the general secretary, despite the fact that the acting President of the association, Zahoor Shuja, was present in the country.

“We also believe that no meeting was held by the association. It is all farce and we reserve the right to know the actual reason behind the postponement,” they demanded.

The community leaders also said that, constitutionally, the present body should not hold office because the three-year term was over.

“The grace period allowed to conduct elections is three months, while the association has now delayed the polls for six months. This make the body 100 per cent illegal,” they stressed.

Prominent businessmen of the community also said that the reasons cited by the association did not hold any water. “The reasons presented should have been clear while announcing the earlier schedule. As a democratic body, they should let the new members know the real reasons behind the delay,” they said.

In his comment, Saleem Farooq, General Secretary, PAD said that the body regretted that they had to delay the polls and promised that they would be held on the due date for sure.

• UAE