LAHORE: In a scenario that depicts poor state of affairs, the Pakistan Cricket Board despite the passage of 16 months has not appointed an election commissioner besides failing to call its general body meeting, which is mandatory during a calendar year, for more than 18 months.

Both are statutory requirements of the PCB constitution.

With no election commissioner (EC) in place, the elections of Sialkot, Faisalabad and Multan regions are in the doldrums. Furthermore, recently the PCB also suspended its Islamabad Regional Cricket Association. An election commissioner is required to hold fresh elections in the said regions.

According to PCB constitution, the Patron of the PCB (prime minister) has to appoint an EC, who has a key role to play in dealing with the affairs of regional and district bodies. Overall, 16 regions and around 100 districts are affiliated with the PCB.

Till the appointment of an EC, no elections at regional or district level can be held.

Moreover, the PCB failed to appoint an ad-hoc body in four regions Faisalabad, Multan, Sialkot and Islamabad as per the Clause 34 of its constitution.

According to Clause 34, which concerns the appointment of an ad-Hoc committee, `whenever the membership of any Full or Associate Member is suspended under paragraph 33, the Board may appoint an Ad hoc Committee during the period of suspension, consisting of a chairman and as many members as deemed necessary for performing the functions and managing the affairs of the suspended member.

The constitution has no clear clause to allow the PCB to run the affairs of the suspended region or district directly, if it is unable to appoint an ad-hoc committee.

It may be mentioned here that the elections of Multan and Sialkot are due while the elections of Faisalabad were completed last year. But as a case against the elections of Faisalabad was in the Lahore High Court (LHC), the notification for the successful candidates could not be issued. Though now the case in the LHC has been cleared, there is no election commissioner in place to issue the notification for the successful candidates.

Moreover, PCB`s constitution also requires holding at least one general body meeting in a calendar year. However, no such meeting was held in 2024.

Though the general body holds important tasks related to regional and district associations and about the future programme of the PCB, its highly surprising that its meeting has not been held yet, which is also a violation of the constitution.

According to Clause 21 of the PCB Constitution regarding the general body meeting,`(1)4 An Annual General Meeting of the General Body shall be held once every calendar year at which the annual report, audited accounts of the Board and any other business will be considered and any views or recommendations shall be finalized for submission to the Board of Governors.