The search committee formed by the President has finalized the names of 20 candidates for the post of Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners after its fifth meeting.
The committee will hold the next meeting today (Sunday) to finalize the names of 10 candidates from the shortlist.
This information was given after the meeting of the search committee on Saturday morning by Dr Shamsul Arefin, Senior Secretary (coordination and reform) to the Cabinet Division.
At the end of the two-hour meeting, the Secretary said, “Twenty people have been shortlisted as a preliminary list from the proposed names as per the eligibility determined by law. The final list will be prepared in the next couple of meetings.”
Asked about when the list of 10 names will be finalised, he said that all the information would be disclosed after one or two more meetings.
The fifth meeting of the search committee was held at the Judges' Lounge of the Bangladesh Supreme Court and the meeting was presided over by Justice Obaidul Hassan of the Appellate Division.
The meeting was attended by search committee members High Court Division Justice SM Kuddus Zaman, Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) Mohammad Muslim Chowdhury, Public Service Commission (PSC) Chairman Mohammed Sohrab Hossain, former Election Commissioner Mohammed Sohul Hossain and writer Prof Anwara Syed Haq.
Earlier, on February 12, 13 and 15, the search committee held meetings with 47 eminent citizens belonging to different professions in four phases.
The names of 322 candidates from registered political parties, professional organizations and individuals were announced on February 14 night.
The 12th Election Commission (EC) of Bangladesh, headed by KM Nurul Huda, completed its tenure on February 14, 2022. This is the first EC to be formed according to the law enacted after independence.
On January 27, “Appointment of the Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners Bill-2022” was passed in parliament.
Most of those on the preliminary list were professors, judges, former secretaries and former military officers. However, there is no obligation in the law to list 10 people from there. The committee may also finalize the list at its own discretion.
The law states that the search committee will perform its responsibilities following the principles of transparency and impartiality. They will propose to the President the names of two candidates for the post of CEC and eight candidates for the four posts of Election Commissioner considering their qualifications, experience and skills as per the law.
The President constituted a six-member inquiry committee led by Justice Obaidul Hasan of the Appellate Division on February 5 to select eligible candidates to form the EC. The committee has been given 15 working days to recommend names.
The search committee will select 10 candidates and send the list to the President. Later, the President will appoint the Chief Election Commissioner and four Election Commissioners.
In order to be recommended for the post of CEC and Election Commissioner, one has to have three qualifications. He must be a citizen of Bangladesh; must be at least 50 years old and must have at least 20 years of work experience in any important government, judicial, semi-government or private or autonomous position or profession.