Najam Sethi elected as new PCB chairman

Karachi: Najam Sethi has been elected as the new Chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) by the new management committee, which was announced by the government earlier in the day.

Eight out of 11 members of the managing committee voted in favour of Sethi during a hurriedly called meeting just hours after the government had issued a notification, dismissing Zaka Ashraf as the Chairman of the PCB and dissolving the Governing board with immediate effect. Shakil Shaikh, a member of the management committee, told a media conference at the Gaddafi stadium that the Prime Minister in his capacity as Patron-in-Chief of the PCB had acted within his powers. "Zaka Ashraf has been removed as the constitution has been suspended and we have selected Najam Sethi as the new Chairman. The managing committee will meet on Tuesday to further discuss and review the decisions taken by Ashraf," he said. A defiant Ashraf, however, told a press conference that he still remained the chairman and that he would be consulting his legal advisors for further line of action. "This action of the government is unconstitutional and my lawyers will look at it. But what is sad is that martial law has been imposed in Pakistan cricket by a democratic government," he said. Ironically, Ashraf and Sethi have held the Chairman`s post in the PCB since 2011 when the Pakistan Peoples Party was in power.