Pakistan Writers Club Riyadh (PWC) recently elected a new president for the next two-year term, which is for 2011-2013. This is in keeping with the democratic tradition established in the club by former presidents, who set the rule that PWC elect a new president after every two years. The incumbent President Syed Bashir Ahmed dissolved his cabinet upon the successful completion of his two-year tenure and called for a new election to elect its new president. The incumbent General Secretary – Choudhry Rehmat Ali aka Badal – announced the election schedule and also appointed Prof. Nadir Alam (of PISR-N) the Election Commissioner. PWC Patron-in-Chief Faiz Al-Najdi was nominated as the Election Coordinator. Originally, there were two contestants: PWC senior member H.M. Fayyaz and Choudhry Rehmat Ali. Fayyaz informed the Election Coordinator about his intention to withdraw his nomination before the withdrawal deadline. This paved the way for unopposed election of Choudhry Rehmat Ali. Al-Najdi declared Choudhry Rehmat Ali PWC's new President. PWC is an association of Pakistani expatriate writers, journalists, and poets. It was founded in 1989 and is also registered as such with the Embassy of Pakistan. It is a very popular community organization very well-known for hosting various literary activities and events throughout the year. It is also known for bringing the community together and for rendering social and philanthropic services to the poor and the needy amongst community members. Gul Mohammad Bhutta – a noted journalist and bureau chief of Nawa-i-Waqt in Riyadh – was its founding president. Other former presidents include Abid Lohar, Syed Rasheed-Ul-Hassan, Tariq Nadim Shaikh (deceased), Faiz Al-Najdi, and Syed Bashir Ahmed. Choudhry Rehmat Ali is a writer and Urdu and Punjabi poet. As a former General Secretary, he was very dynamic and pivotal in the success of Syed Bashir's presidency. He is expected to bring more glory to the club. PWC is unique social and literary organization in the sense that it has a history of services to the community which no other organization can lay claim to. For example, it rallied around and brought the Pakistani community together during the October 2005 earthquake in the northern areas of Pakistan. Together with support from other community organizations like Contact Pakistan and Pakistan Awami Forum, it mobilized the Pakistani community then, and with the permission of the embassy, set up a huge relief camp in Riyadh. With cooperation from the Saudi Red Crescent Society, PWC had the honor of dispatching relief goods worth over 3 million Saudi Riyals to Pakistan through three chartered Saudi military air planes – all free of cost courtesy of the Saudi Red Crescent Society. Annual PWC events, namely Pakistan Day (March 23), the mushaira on independence day (Aug. 14), Husn-e-Qirat competition in Ramadan and regular literary gatherings, are very popular amongst the Pakistani community. Its most popular program “Ek Shakhsiat Ek Shaam” (an evening with a personality) has no parallel. This program is exclusively designed to honor and glorify those Pakistanis who, by through their achievements, have been able to bring about a good name for Pakistan and Pakistanis. This program has been much appreciated and several episodes have already been conducted, which will culminate in a book on the subject. It is hoped that the new president, Choudhry Rehmat Ali, will strive hard to take the club to new heights during his tenure. Choudhry Rehmat Ali appointed his new cabinet and presented them before members of the community at his oath-taking ceremony, Thursday.
