Political Candidates Forum under the Leadership of Arizonian Pakistanis
By Yousuf Bhuvad

 
Pictures above: Glimpses of the Political Candidates Forum

The Arizonian Pakistani Leadership with the Arizona Asian American Association (AAAA) conducted a political candidates forum on October 19h, 2008 at the Marriott Hotel in Phoenix.

The purpose of the forum was to raise the political awareness among ethnic communities living in Arizona including the community-at-large. The event was attended by a large number of people from various communities living in the Phoenix metropolitan area.  Dr. Arif Kazmi  expressed gratitude to the volunteers for their support and individually thanked each sponsor for his/her contribution.

 Ms. Leezie Kim, who serves as a General Counsel to Governor Janet Napolitano, was the moderator of the event. She set up the ground rule for the candidates. Each candidate had three minutes to introduce himself and present his candidacy agenda.

Over 30 candidates from both Democratic Party and Republican Party for candidacy of US Congress, State Senators, State House Representatives , AZ State Corporate Commission,  Maricopa County Board of Supervisors,  County Sheriff, County Attorney, majority of them being incumbents, were in attendance. 

The moderator collected questions from the audience during the speeches and conducted a question-and-answer session at the end of the speeches. The candidates did an excellent job in responding to some very searching questions, including the status of Muslims in Arizona and the USA.

Many community members also had an opportunity to talk to the candidates after the event.

Ms. Caroline Lobo, current president of AAAA, gave a brief history of the organization. She thanked the participants and the audience for making the event a success.

She also thanked Dr. Arif Kazmi, the Chair of the forum, for organizing the event.

 

 

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------