ISLAMABAD: The recent Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) elections dealt a serious blow to the lawyers’ panel supported by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), as the party lost not just nationally but also at every polling station in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK). This province is typically seen as a PTI stronghold. Despite several of the PTI’s leading individuals being members of the legal community, sources claim that party chairman Imran Khan has not yet been made aware of the gravity of the loss, particularly in KPK. Senator Hamid Khan’s PTI-supported team was unable to win at any of the province’s polling places.

According to reports, the party’s internal conflicts are the primary cause of this failure. The News has learned that the independent group candidate, backed by Federal Law Minister Azam Nazir Tarar, received 186 votes in Peshawar, while the PTI-backed panel received 181 votes. In Abbottabad, the pro-government panel received 55 votes, while the PTI candidate received just 19. The opposition received 27 votes and the PTI received 23 in Swat, while the Azad group received 25 votes and the PTI received only 5.

In last week’s SCBA elections, the Azad group—led by prominent lawyer Ahsan Bhawan and Law Minister Azam Nazir Tarar—again achieved a major win when their candidate, Haroon Rashid, won the presidency by a margin of more than 400 votes. Additionally, the coalition secured a majority of SCBA executive body seats. (JANG News)