Newly-appointed Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) AMM Nasir Uddin and four Election Commissioners (ECs) Md Anwarul Islam Sarker, Abdur Rahmanel Masud, Begum Tahmida Ahmad and Brigadier General (retd) Abul Fazal Md Sanaullah today took oath at the Supreme Court here.
Chief Justice Syed Refaat Ahmed administered the oath of office to the CEC and ECs at the Supreme Court (SC) Judges' Lounge at 1.30pm as SC Registrar General Aziz Ahmed Bhuiyan conducted the function.
Judges of the Appellate Division, members of the election commission search committee, officials of the Election Commission and employees of the Supreme Court Registrar General's office, among others, were present.
Earlier on November 21, President Mohammed Shahabuddin appointed former secretary AMM Nasir Uddin as the new CEC and four others as election commissioners under section 118 (1) of the constitution.
The Cabinet Division issued separate gazette notifications to this end on that day.
The new EC has been constituted on the basis of the recommendation of the six-member search committee.
The new CEC AMM Nasir Uddin has said the Election Commission will hold free, fair, and credible elections on completion of some necessary reforms.
“I consider this role a big opportunity in my life. The people of this country have been deprived of their voting rights. They have struggled and made sacrifices to secure free and fair elections. I am committed to providing them with such an election and will do my best to achieve it,” he said while talking to reporters after his swearing-in on Sunday.
The new CEC said he believes that they can make this happen. “The Election Commission has a strong team and with the cooperation of people and political parties, we aim to gift the nation a transparent election.”
Replying to a question the CEC said, “Reforms are an ongoing process. However, certain essential changes must be made to hold elections.”
He said the younger generation who have been eagerly waiting to vote need to be included in the voter list. “Necessary reforms are already underway, and I hope we will identify specific areas requiring change soon as a reform commission is actively working on it.”
