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Votes stolen in poll chaos

1/ 2/2003

LEADERSHIP elections in Oldham's Pakistani community have been postponed for six months due to an increasingly bitter faction fight.

Eight Pakistani origin town councillors took the decision to put-off the ballot at a meeting in Oldham Civic Centre. The cancelled poll would have decided the composition of the Pakistani Centre's new management committee.

An opposition block is alleging that the existing 27-strong committee was a clique who had handed out 'jobs for the boys'. They wanted copies of the centre's membership lists but were refused by the sitting committee who claimed this would be a breach of data protection laws.

The first attempt at an election was sabotaged when a ballot box was stolen. Police are now investigating the theft.

Meanwhile the existing committee has had an injunction served on them preventing them from calling new elections until claims that there are bogus names on the membership lists are investigated.

Secretary of the Community Centre Awais Mohammad said he was happy with the six-month delay.

"Hopefully this will allow time to sort out the difficulties we are facing. The most crucial things is to get the centre working again. These divisions can threaten our future funding."

He added: "Since the opening of the new centre in April 2000 the current management committee has directed all its efforts and energy in developing the centre in providing a service to the community."