Bangladesh Bar Council polls: Candidates busy campaigning

Lawyers backed by the ruling Awami League, and BNP are campaigning, competing for the Bangladesh Bar Council polls scheduled for May 14. The bar council is run by a 15-member committee and it holds elections once in three years in keeping with the “Bangladesh Legal Practitioners and Bar Council Order-1972.” Fourteen members of the committee are elected while the top law officer of the state, the attorney general, is appointed chairman. Of the 14 members, seven lawyers are elected to general seats while the seven others are elected for zonal or group seats. These members select a vice chairman among themselves based on a majority vote. The number of voters is 43,713.

Pro-Awami League candidates

Seven candidates backed by the Awami League for the general seats include bar council incumbent Vice Chairman, Advocate Abdul Baset Majumder, Supreme Court Bar Association former president, Advocate Yusuf Hossain Humayun, Advocate Syed Rezaur Rahman, Awami League Legal Affairs Secretary and Bar Council Finance Committee Chairman, Advocate SM Rezaul Karim, Bar Council member, Advocate Zahirul Islam Khan Panna, Advocate Porimal Chandra Guha, and International Crimes Tribunal prosecutor, Mokhlesur Rahman Badal. The seven other candidates contesting the group seats are, Group A: Bar Council member and Legal Education Committee Chairman, Kazi Nazibullah Hiru, Group B: Md Kabir Uddin Bhuiyan, Group C: Ibrahim Hossain Chowdhury Babul, Group D: AM Md Ruhul Anam Chowdhury, Group E: Parvez Alam Khan, Group F: Md Yahiya, and Group G: Rezaul Karim Montu. One of the candidates, Yusuf Hossain Humayun, said: “Campaigning is underway. Since there are many senior lawyers in our panel we hope to win with a majority.”

Pro-BNP candidates

The seven BNP-backed candidates for general seats are former attorney general AJ Mohammad Ali, Advocate Fazlur Rahman, BNP chairperson’s adviser, Advocate Taimur Alam Khandaker, Advocate Md Borhan Uddin, Advocate Helaluddin Molla, Advocate Md Abbas Uddin, and former MP, Advocate Asifa Ashrafi Papiya. Their seven candidates for group seats are Group A: Advocate Md Mohsin Miah, Group B: Advocate Badhan Kumar Goswami, Group C: Sheikh Mokhlesur Rahman, Group D: Advocate Md Delwar Hossain Chowdhury, Group E: SR Faruque, and Group F: Advocate Md Ishaq. “We are busy campaigning. We are visiting bar associations across the country and interacting with lawyers. We hope to gain a majority in the bar council elections as we did in the Supreme Court Bar Association polls,” said candidate Taimur Alam Khandaker.

Tribunal to resolve polls related complaints

A three-member tribunal headed by Justice Syed Amirul Islam has been formed to resolve complaints regarding the polls. Two other members of the committee are Justice Farid Ahmed and Supreme Court Advocate Md Ozi Ullah. Attorney General Mahbubey Alam will act as election commissioner. The elections will be held from 10am to 5pm on May 14 at polling centres to be set up on the premises of district, sadar, and upazila courts.