LAHORE, June 20: The Punjab University administration’s rivals – Academic Group and Academic Forum – have joined hands to give a tough time to Teachers’ Front in the PU Senate elections scheduled for July 6.

Academic Group and Academic Forum leaders have decided that they would contest the election jointly. Academic Group leaders led by Prof Dr Mahr Saeed Akhtar and Academic Forum’s leaders led by Prof Dr Fakharul Haq Noori decided seat sharing at the ratio of 67 per cent and 33 per cent, respectively.

The PU registrar, who is also returning officer (RO) for the Senate elections, has notified the electoral rolls that say there are 555 voters – 71 professors, 45 associate professors, 212 assistant professors and 227 lecturers. The associate professors (doing academic duties), assistant professors and lecturers will contest elections against 15 seats.

All professors as well as associate professors, who hold the posts of heads of academic departments, are ex-officio members of the PU Senate. However, they all will poll their votes in July 6 elections.

The RO started receiving nomination papers from faculty members on Wednesday and would continue to do so till June 25 (Monday). He will put up the list of election candidates on the notice board outside his office on June 27. The list of candidates after scrutiny of nomination papers will be put up on June 29.

The eligible candidates can withdraw from contesting election till July 2 and the final list will be displayed on July 4. The polling will be held at Waheed Shaheed Hall, Institute of Education and Research from 9am to 4.30pm with a break from 1pm to 2.30pm on July 6.

An interesting episode that began with the publication of preliminary electoral rolls on June 8 was that Academic Group President Prof Dr Nasir Ahmad and syndicate member Dr Asmatullah objected to the inclusion of the PU College of Information Technology (PUCIT) Principal Dr Mansoor Sarwar’s name in the electoral rolls.

PU Registrar/RO Prof Dr Khan Rass Masood initially contested the Academic Group’s claim but fell flat when the group’s leaders wrote another letter and warned him to refrain from becoming a party with Dr Sarwar, who happens to be the first cousin of the incumbent vice chancellor.

After the publication of preliminary electoral rolls on June 8, the Academic Group leaders Prof Ahmad and Dr Asmatullah wrote a two-page letter to the Registrar/RO on June 11 stating that PUCIT Principal Dr Mansoor Sarwar’s name should be excluded from the Senate electoral rolls because he was not a professor but appointed directly against administrative post of principal.

They also referred a three-member Revision Committee led by PU Faculty of Engineering and Technology dean Prof Dr Javaid Ahmad in this regard.

The Registrar/RO on June 13 responded to the Academic Group leaders’ letter stating that Prof Dr Syed Mansoor Sarwar was a regular employee of the university and inclusion of his name in the voters’ list was quite legitimate.

Very next day on June 14, the Academic Group’s Prof Ahmad and Dr Asmatullah again referred Revision Committee decision before the Syndicate elections and added that inclusion of Dr Sarwar’s name for the forthcoming Senate election was mala fide and would jeopardise the whole process of the election.

The Academic Group leaders also warned Prof Masood against becoming a party with Dr Sarwar.

Following this aggressive letter, Prof Masood informed complainant Dr Asmatullah that a new two-member committee on June 16 accepted voluntary withdrawal of Prof Sarwar’s name from the list of voters for the forthcoming Senate election.

LUMS convocation: The Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) is holding its 24th convocation on its campus on Saturday.

Pakistan’s first Oscar Award winner Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy will be a keynote speaker at the convocation.

At the convocation, as many as 730 students from varsity’s three schools -- Suleman Dawood School of Business; School of Humanities, Social Sciences and Law; and School of Science and Engineering (SSE) -- will receive their degrees, including 156 students of inaugural batch of the SSE.