PEC Elections 2024 to be most interesting contest ever? Yes, here are reasons

The pre-PEC Elections 2024 analysis suggests the elections will likely be the most interesting contest ever. Why? Let me put the reasons here. One, the number of contestants all known faces in the engineering community are in the race for the top slot, two, all have reportedly put in a tough workout for the next few months that was not observed in the past, three, a lot of realpolitik {in the background} is involved embedded with intrigue and pursuance and four, the graphs of conceivably-strong parties {mind it engineering ones} are not the same as they were before.
If you randomly pick any of the aspiring contestants for the office of the chairman, you will find them different in comparison to their position at the onset of PEC Elections 2021. Take Engr. Najeeb Haroon, the incumbent chairman of the council for instance. He was believed or dubbed as the lone person in the council and his senior coalition partners—National Engineers led by Engr. Shah-Shaikh—would explicitly claim to be his only crutches without which he could not move. In contrast, he is now spotted to be surrounded by many leading engineers of whom many stood with his erstwhile alliance led by Engr. Shah-Shaikh during previous elections. Two-time loser Engr. Haroon who had parted ways from his comrades—PEG—in 2021 was witnessed showing up in all provinces these months. Several independent people are heard realizing that he is surely in the contest in contrast to the perception that he was all alone after his alliance with the Shah-Shaikh group broke down.
In the same field, Engr. Waseem Nazir is present; rather very much so with a stark difference. Though he has not officially declared his candidacy and for that reason some doubted his eagerness in the contest at the outset. But he is in the field and has done his reconnaissance survey very well. Some of his observers say he has something new in the basket around this time. Being the largest vote taker from Punjab—the largest piece of the cake—in the 2021 elections. Engr. Nazir is an unflinching candidate as he believes he is the most able engineering leader available at the moment and he will lead, and not be led.
In Waseem Nazir’s province is Engr. Jawed Saleem Qureshi who claims he is the leader of the largest engineering party in Pakistan. Not for quite a while, engineers’ circles have talked much about the ‘flimsy efforts’ of allying The Engineers Pakistan (TEP) and the National Engineers Association (NEA)—the two visible forces in Punjab and Sindh. Though scarcely few engineers can weigh the pros and cons of such effort, most engineers especially from the NEA stable had tied their hopes that Engr. Qureshi’s camp would back Engr. Abdul Qadir Shah for the office of the chairman not knowing that the decision of the TEP core committee to have already decided Engr. Qureshi is the one and only contestant for the top slot from their side. Let’s have a look at Qureshi-Shah parleys from a yet different angle. If TEP started negotiations with Shah with open options, it can be concluded in three ways. One, that the TEP admits its following has dwindled in Punjab and cannot win singularly and thus needs NEA’s support in Sindh. Two, TEP believes NEA can support Engr. Qureshi as chairman because of its (NEA’s) crisis of leadership which resulted in the indecisiveness of Engr. Qadir Shah and Engr. Mukhtiar Shaikh—the two colluding and competing leaders of NEA. Three, TEP merely kills NEA’s time—the factor that has a significant bearing on the election campaign and in return leaves a negative impact on voters.
The last and the most significant outcome of any alliance between TEP and NEA will harm both. The TEP would lose a chunk of its support base in Punjab and NEA would shrink to be the representative of engineers from rural Sindh. The scenario would untimely bring dividends to Engr. Waseem Nazir whose better strategy may turn him into a powerful contestant.
The news prospects are not limited to Engr. Nazir, Qureshi, Shah, and Najeeb. You will find Engr. Al Kazim Mansoor is in a different spirit too. The president of Pakistan Engineers Forum (PEF) who has announced his candidacy for the post of chairman is writing a different story this time and he is sure he has good prospects for his group if not for the top slot. PEF has attempted to reposition itself keeping a view of the outcome of the last elections. Now, the group is more organized in contrast to previous elections and with potential to open talks with other groups keeping in mind the strength of its dedicated vote. PEF is open for dialogue wherein it can consider shedding the contest for the chairman in lieu of a good share with any group. Some engineers in Punjab say PEF has better stakes with Engr. Waseem Nazir as PEF does not possess good memories with National Engineers during the last elections. Engr. Mansoor has geared up his efforts and has reportedly organized workers’ conventions in major cities of the country.
Now, it’s time for Engr. Ashfaq Shah, the incumbent chairman of the Constructors Association of Pakistan (CAP) whose organization strives for freedom from the Pakistan Engineering Council (PEC) which according to many CAP leaders is feeding on contractors’ money. This lot of contractors wish to get rid of marriage of inconvenience but at least the contractors from the rural Sindh have distanced themselves from the organization for a long period. Engr. Ashfaq Shah, at least as a perception, is the candidate for the post of chairman who would not step down. Hailing from KP, Engr. Shah would be noticed as to how he will ensure the support of the constructors’ fraternity in an election in which the engineers are no less competent than politicians in switching their loyalties. And, of course, a memory of CAP without PEC may be a great barrier to asking for votes from engineers across Pakistan.