Zaka appointed PCB chairman

ISLAMABAD, Oct 11: The government appointed on Tuesday Zaka Ashraf as chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board.

The presidency was expected to issue a notification about the appointment, but no such document was released till late in the night.

Mr Ashraf is reputed to be a close friend of President Asif Ali Zardari.

The contract of former PCB chief Ijaz Butt, which was extended by one year last year, expired on Oct 8. Initially, he was appointed for two years.

According to media reports, Zaka Ashraf met President Zardari, who is patron-in-chief of the PCB, but it was not confirmed by the presidency’s spokesman Farhatullah Babar.

Private TV channels ran the news regarding Mr Ashraf’s appointment as PCB chief throughout the day and that the contract of Ijaz Butt has not been extended.

Although there was no official word about Mr Ashraf’s appointment, he himself came to the media and claimed that he would run the PCB in a better way.

A private TV channel quoted Mr Ashraf as saying that his target was to restore international cricket in Pakistan by ensuring foolproof security arrangements, adding that all the decisions of the PCB would be taken by him.

He claimed that he would cleanse cricket of corruption, scandals and lobbying. He was quoted as saying: “The question is not of the players but to win. Only those who perform will play.”

Mr Ashraf, a former chairman of the Pakistan Sugar Mills Association, is serving as chairman of the Zarai Taraqiati Bank Ltd. Hailing from Nawabshah, he is a brother of PML-N leader Begum Ishrat Ashraf.

Local cricketers gave mixed reaction over the appointment of Mr Ashraf as PCB chairman.

However, ICC spokesman Samiul Hassan said if Mr Ashraf had been appointed for a period beyond 2013 his appointment was against a recent decision of the International Cricket Council. Under ICC rules, cricket board chiefs could only be appointed through elections and not through direct nomination, he added.

Talking to Dawn, he quoted the ICC decision as saying: “The ICC Annual Conference unanimously supported a proposal to amend the ICC Articles of Association to provide for the important principle of free elections and the independence of member boards.

“It was agreed that all member boards must implement the provisions before annual conference in June 2012 and a further 12 months (to June 2013) would be allowed before any sanctions would be considered. It was noted that it was a well-established principle of modern sporting governance that national federations should be autonomous and free from interference from government in the administration of their affairs.”

He also quoted ICC Chief Executive Haroon Lorgat as saying “This is a significant step towards achieving best practice and, together with the independent governance review, I am excited by the commitment of the ICC to introduce best possible corporate governance.”

An associate member of the PCB governing board told Dawn that if Mr Ashraf had been appointed for an indefinite period (beyond 2013), the decision was against the ICC ruling.

“The ICC has barred countries from appointing politicians in national cricket boards, mainly to free the sport from undue government influence and pressures,” he said.

According to the ruling, the ICC can suspend membership of a board if there is government interference in running its affairs.

The ICC issued the same warning to Sri Lanka and Bangladesh recently.

Source: http://www.dawn.com/2011/10/12/zaka-appointed-pcb-chairman.html

Who is this mysterious lady? By Javed Nusrat

For more than ten days a lady with elitist connections is reportedly being harassed by the Lahore Police. Alleged to have kidnapped a foreigner for ransom, her case is now before an anti-terrorism court. Instead of focusing on her defence through legal means, the said lady continues to insist, almost hysterically, that she was being ‘punished’ by the Sharifs for attempting to enter their family via ‘duly executed marriage’.

She failed to find any takers of her story from amongst the Punjab-based media. But the MQM Quaid has owned her ‘cause’. And at the outset of Monday sitting, legislators belonging to his party also ganged up to stir up the scandal on floor of the House.

An otherwise quiet and lie low type Sardar Mehtab Abbassi could not resist the provocation. He stood up to aggressively forewarn that if MQM were allowed to vent the scandalous stuff, his comrades would pay them in their own coin by throwing dirt at the Muttahida leadership.

National Assembly Speaker Dr Fehmida Mirza announced a break for Maghrib prayer and took a long time in resuming her seat. Obviously backdoor channels were activated to ensure peace in the house. The PPP legislators went an extra mile in the said context. At a meeting of this party’s core committee at the presidency, Asif Ali Zardari had firmly declared that no one from his party should dare drag Sharifs in a scandal. It was at the same meeting that he conveyed to the Speaker of Sindh Assembly that the much deferred decision on Dr Zulfiqar Mirza should immediately be announced. “I am losing a very old friend (Mirza) in order to save our understanding with the MQM,” he announced.

Many in Islamabad’s conspiracy-churning drawing rooms have been claiming that the fine print of the Supreme Court’s decision on the chaos of Karachi was in effect another ‘doctrine of necessity’ invoked to strengthen the hand of extra-parliamentary forces. However, President Zardari seems to believe that the said decision empowered the federal and provincial governments to take firm decisions for restoring order in Karachi. He also hinted at preparing for ‘Seraiki province,’ while asking his people to form two and not one committee for reorganizing the PPP in Punjab. The second committee should absolutely focus on “South Punjab.” Raza Rabbani felt un­happy with the decision, but the President snubbed him politely.

Another kind of embarrassing snub, however, was suffered by Asfandyar Wali as not more than four members attended a meeting of the National Assembly committee on foreign affairs called by him. Even Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar’s presence at the meeting failed to reduce the effect of the rebuff. .

Meanwhile, for the past three days, intense lobbying is on in Islamabad to grab the about-to- be- vacated post of Chairman Pakistan Cricket Board. The names being mentioned in this regard include Ali Raza of NBP fame, former Test cricketers Zaheer Abbas and Majid Khan and Zaraee Tarqiati Bank man Zaka Ashraf. Each one has his own promoter. Ali Raza is being promoted by president’s bossom friend, Anwar Majid and ZAB’s socialite friend Tufail Shaikh. Zaheer Abbas by fellow Sialkotia Rehman Malik, Majid by Dr Soomro. The President earlier had shown his preference for Zaka. The one man who is said to have refused the offer, Aitzaz Ahsan refused to confirm or deny the report. Perhaps the president wants him out of the way before he starts dishing out tickets for the next Senate elections.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 11^th, 2011.

Source: http://tribune.com.pk/story/271519/who-is-this-mysterious-lady/