ISLAMABAD - (MOHSIN ALI/Agencies) - Former Army cricket team head coach Major (R) Nadeem Sadal who had played active cricket for 35 years questioned Zaka Ashraf's election as PCB Chairman and termed it illegal and unconstitutional.
In an exclusive interview with The Nation on Tuesday Nadeem said the entire election drama was conducted under mysterious circumstances and every present and past cricketer should have the right to contest elections and the contender name should be forwarded by the respective region. He said Zaka didn't bother to follow the PCB constitution in which appointment of an election commissioner to conduct elections in smooth and transparent manner is written clearly and the entire process of so-called election was against the spirit of democratic norms.
“I had the backing of nine regions out of 15. I could have won the elections easily had proper rules and regulations were followed. Zaka was given vote by only five regions and five departments, which include Wapda's Naveed Cheema, who is the manager of the national team and the most interesting name needed to be mentioned here is Masood Anwar, who was elected into PCB governing body on ZTBL quota. Masood is ineligible to contest even district body election as he was banned by the PCB on corruption charges but he is very much eligible to vote on ZTBL behalf.”
Nadeem said Larkana, Dera Murad Jamali and Bhawalpur regions were not even mentioned in the PCB voting rights but they were allowed to cast votes by Zaka. “I had filed a writ petition in Islamabad High Court and the honourable court had barred Zaka from conducting/participating in PCB meetings or any other official assignment. I am sure free and fair PCB elections would be held soon in which every genuine cricketer had the right to contest and hopefully right person would be elected for the high profile job,” Nadeem concluded.
Ashraf was elected in the first week of May, under the new PCB constitution that replaced the system of appointing the PCB chairman by the patron of the board, the president of Pakistan. It was the first election of a PCB chairman.
He was one of the two candidates - the other being former Lahore Stock Exchange chairman Aftab Ahmad Khan - recommended by the patron and then interviewed by the nomination committee. The committee then unanimously recommended Ashraf for the chairman's post, before the board of governors unanimously endorsed him.
As per the new constitution, the board of governors was restructured to include ten members - five regional representatives on the basis of rotation and five representatives of service organisations and departments - with voting rights. Of the ten, PCB was able to appoint nine, all of whom voted in favour of Ashraf's nomination. However, there was no representation from Punjab, Pakistan's largest province with 60% of country's population, while two new regions without any first-class team - Larkana and Dera Murad Jamali - were drafted in to the board.
The process was conducted without any prior announcement, the PCB revealing the appointment through a press release. The PCB's new constitution was produced as a result of the 2011 ICC directive, which required that its member boards become autonomous and free of interference from governments by June 2013. Removal of government interference had also been one of the Woolf report recommendations approved by the ICC. However, in November 2012, the ICC said it was reviewing its stance against government involvement in the administration of cricket.
Ashraf has been the PCB's chairman since 2011, previously working under the old constitution, under which he was appointed for an indefinite period by the patron, President Asif Ali Zardari.