Justice Syed Mahmud to lead search committee, once again
The Supreme Court’s Appellate Division judge Syed Mahmud Hossain will head the search committee formed to pick individuals for appointing election commissioners, officials concerned told Prothom Alo.
The officials concerned further confirmed to the newspaper that a High Court division judge, Obaidul Hassan, is also on the search committee formed by the president on Wednesday morning.
President Abdul Hamid has formed a six-strong search committee and a gazette notification has already been issued in this regard.
The search committee will have to suggest prospectives names in the next 10 working days.
The four other members of the committee are: Bangladesh Public Service Commission chairman and former election commission secretary Muhammed Sadique, Comptroller and Auditor General Masud Ahmed, Dhaka University’s English literature professor Syed Manzoorul Islam and Chittagong University pro-vice chancellor Shireen Akhter.
Before the reconstitution of the election commission in 2012, the then president, Zillur Rahman, for the first time formed a four-member search committee with SC Appellate Division judge Syed Mahmud Hossain as its head.
The Mahmud-led search committee had suggested names of former cabinet secretary Ali Imam Majumder and former parliament secretary Kazi Rakibuddin Ahmad and put forth eight names for the posts of four election commissioners.
And later, the president appointed Kazi Rakibuddin Ahmad the chief election commissioner and four others as election commissioners.
The Rakib-led commission is widely criticised for its inaction or mishandling when violence, capture of polling stations, ballot stuffing, manipulation and irregularities called the shot in most of the elections to the local government bodies as well as in the last general elections.
The much-talked-about 5 January election which was boycotted by all major opposition political parties saw the election of as much as 153 MPs uncontested.
At least 22 people including polling officials were killed on the election day as the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) led opposition alliance had made a call to resist the lopsided balloting.
The tenures of the election commissioners is set to expire early February.
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