The Annual Meeting of the APNS General Council at APNS House, Karachi, resulted in the unanimous election of Nazafreen Saigol Lakhani as President, Sarmad Ali as Secretary General, Imtinan Shahid as Senior Vice President, Muhammad Aslam Kazi as Vice President, Syed Muhammad Munir Jilani as Joint Secretary, and Shahab Zuberi as Finance Secretary. The AGM, chaired by President Nazafreen Saigol Lakhani, approved the Executive Committee’s report and Annual Accounts for 2023. Dr. Waqar Yousuf Azeemi led the Election Commission in conducting a fair and transparent election.
Dailies and magazines, including Daily Times, Daily Jang, and others, were elected unopposed to the Executive Committee for the next term. For Karachi daily seats, a secret ballot elected Daily Aghaz, Daily Dawn, and others. Mrs. Zahida Abbasi of Daily Nau Sijj, Karachi, secured the woman-publisher seat.
The new Executive Committee, praising the Election Commission, expressed concerns over the print media’s financial crisis. The AGM urged the government to implement Mian Shahbaz Sharif’s decision to increase advertisement rates, pay outstanding dues, and allocate a share of the advertising budget for the newspaper industry’s survival.
In a resolution, the AGM criticized PID’s decision to remove 17 publications from the Combined Media List, including 11 APNS members. The APNS condemned the move, urging the Ministry of Information to restore the publications on the media list.
