CPSP council officials accused of poll by-laws violation.

LAHORE: The upcoming elections of the Council of the College of Physicians and Surgeons Pakistan (CPSP) have become 'controversial' after the allegations of violations of the poll by-laws were leveled against the incumbent body.

The ruling group, particularly came under fire when five out of the 20 councilors of the CPSP were accused of using influence on the voters while heading the public sector medical institutions. It raised an issue of 'conflict of interest' because they were holding two positions at the same time in two different degree-awarding institutions overseeing postgraduate medical programmes.

Of the five councilors, two are vice-chancellors of the medical universities in Lahore which run the MS/MD degree programmes, while the CPSP overseas the rival diploma - FCPS-, an official privy to the information told Dawn.

The official, quoting none other than a senior office-bearer of the outgoing body (the CPSP vice-president from Balochistan) said that the ruling group wanted re-election of the CPSP president 'again from the same region for the 4th consecutive term'.

The outgoing office bearers of the CPSP who served for a four-year term (2015-2018) included Prof Zafar Ullah Chaudhry (president), Maj Gen Salman Ali (senior vice president), Prof Naqib Ullah Achakzai (vice president) and Prof Khalid Ahmad Ashrafi (treasurer).

The ex-official, in his letter to former president Prof Zafar Ullah Chaudhry, alleged that a particular group of councilors had been 'holding monopoly' in the CPSP polls to always get the president elected from one region.

He said that group retained hegemony on the council's affairs as it had been sweeping the previous three elections by forming a panel of its own choice.

In case of a candidate contradicting the group's decision or expressing the desire in the council meeting to contest for the president's slot, he or she would be thrown out of the poll race in violation of the CPSP by-laws, he said.

He also mentioned names of many candidates from smaller provinces who despite qualifying for the president's slot were denied an opportunity.

This group, he warned, had become active again for the same purpose ahead of the council elections to achieve the same results.

He was of the view that as most of the CPSP council members were from Punjab (11 out of total 20), those belonging to other provinces could not get elected to president's slot which was contrary to the national spirit.

To avoid such a scenario in the...