Pakistan Software Houses Association for IT and ITES has announced its election schedule for the biennial term running from 2026 to 2028, setting out the full timeline for electing ten members of its Central Executive Committee along with two reserved seats for women entrepreneurs. The schedule was prepared in accordance with sections 13 to 19 of the Trade Organisation Rules 2013 and was issued by order of the Central Executive Committee under the signature of Secretary General Syed Ali Abbas Hasani.
According to the schedule, the general election for the ten open seats of the Central Executive Committee will be held on Thursday, September 17, 2026, between 9 am and 5 pm, and will be open to all eligible voters. Voting will take place through secret ballot, and postal ballot or proxy voting will not be permitted. Voters have been asked to bring their original CNIC or passport for identity verification, as digital or physical copies will not be accepted at the polling stations. The two reserved seats for women entrepreneurs will be filled separately on Friday, September 18, 2026, through an election in which the newly elected executive committee will serve as the electoral college. Nominations for both the open seats and the reserved seats opened together on August 24 and closed on August 28, with women entrepreneurs appearing on the final voters list eligible to contest either category. Office bearer positions, including chairman, senior vice chairman, vice chairman and treasurer, will be elected from among the newly formed Central Executive Committee through a separate poll scheduled for Tuesday, September 22, 2026, following which the final results will be announced at the annual general meeting on Wednesday, September 30, 2026.
The outgoing Central Executive Committee, whose term concludes with this election cycle, includes Chairman Sajjad Mustafa Syed, Senior Vice Chairman Umair Nizam, Vice Chairman Raheel Iqbal and Treasurer Haris Naseer, along with members Abdul Wahab Ahmad, Hassan Bin Rizwan, Munaf Majeed, Salman Dar, Sheikh Abdul Qadir and Usman Akbar. Dr Sonia Saleem and Nadia Iqbal, who currently hold the reserved seats for women entrepreneurs, will also retire as part of the transition. Membership eligibility for voting requires that a member has completed at least two years of valid PASHA membership as of the announcement of the election schedule and has renewed that membership by April 20, 2026, in line with a DGTO notification dated March 30, 2026 that extended the renewal deadline. Older members remain eligible to vote once they complete one year of enrolment and clear all dues, as provided under Rule 15(1) of the Trade Organization Rules 2013.
Oversight of the process has been assigned to a three member Election Commission for 2026, comprising Dr Aftab Maroof as Election Commissioner North, who serves as Rector of FAST-NUCES Islamabad, Dr Kashif Zafar as Election Commissioner Center, who is Professor and Dean of the School of Systems and Technology at UMT Lahore, and Talib S Karim as Election Commissioner South, who serves as President of the Institute of Business Management in Karachi. The commission can be reached here for any election related queries. Members with unresolved grievances at any stage of the process have also been given the right to approach the Directorate General of Trade Organizations, which functions as the regulator overseeing the election. PASHA has advised members to immediately raise any objections or concerns with the Secretary General or the Election Commission as the process moves forward, and further details on the election guidelines can be found on the PASHA elections page.
Ahead of polling day, PASHA also organized Meet the Candidate sessions in Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi, giving registered voters a chance to meet the contesting candidates in person before casting their ballots. These sessions were open exclusively to members and representatives listed on the Final Voter List 2026. The Islamabad session was held on Saturday, September 12 at 5 pm, followed by the Lahore session on Sunday, September 13 at 5 pm, and the Karachi session on Tuesday, September 15 at 6 pm. The complete final voters list for the 2026 elections has also been made available and can be viewed on the PASHA final voter list.
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