Sammilito Parishad, led by Seha Designs BD Ltd managing director SM Mannan Kochi, on Saturday won the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) biennial elections for 2024-26 decisively, bagging all 35 directorship posts.
Under Sammilito Parishad and Forum, a total of 70 candidates took part in the elections held on Saturday in Dhaka and Chittagong.
Election officials said that a total of 2,226 BGMEA members exercised their voting rights out of 2,496 eligible members in the elections. Of them, 1,839 voted in Dhaka and 387 in Chittagong.
Sammilito Parishad bagged all 35 out of 35 seats, making history.
Jahangir Alamin, chairman of the election board, announced the result of the polls late Saturday.
SM Mannan Kochi bagged 1,510 votes, highest in the election, while Forum panel leader Faisal Samad got 866 votes and could not win. In Chittagong region, Rakibul Alam Chowdhury bagged the highest vote, 1422.
The elected 35 directors are SM Mannan Kochi, Shahidullah Azim, Abdullah Hil Rakib, Asif Ibrahim, Md Imranur Rahman, Arshad Jamal Dipu, Miran Ali, Shovon Islam, Haroon Ar Rashid, Mohammad Sohel Sadat, Anowar Hossain Manik, Shams Mahmud, Khondokar Rafiqul Islam, Ashikur Rahman Tuhin, Nasir Uddin, Mesbah Uddin Khan, Rajiv Chowdhury, Md Shahadat Hossain, Abrar Hossain Sayem, Mohiuddin Rubel, Nusrat Bari Asha, Md Jakir Hossain, Shehrin Salam Oishee, Md Nurul Islam, Saifuddin Siddique Sagor, Rezaul Alam Miru from Dhaka region.
From Chittagong region, Rakibul Alam Chowdhury, Syed Nazrul Islam, Mohammad Musa, Amzad Hossain Chowdhury, M Ahsanul Hoque, Mostafa Sarwar Riyadh, Rakib Al Naser, Gazi Md Shahid Ullah, and Md Absar Hossain were elected as directors.
Two panels -- Sammilita Parishad and Forum, led by Kochi and Samad respectively, took part in the elections.
As per the existing electoral system of the trade body a president, a first vice-president, senior vice-president and five vice-presidents will be elected from victorious directors. The first vice-president will be elected from the Chattogram zone.
Usually, the panel leader is elected as president. In line with that, SM Mannan Kochi is set to become the president of BGMEA for 2024-26 next month, replacing current president Faruque Hassan.
Vote casting for the biennial elections of the board of directors of the BGMEA for 2024-26 began in the centres of its Dhaka and Chittagong regions at 10:00AM on Saturday and ended at 5:00PM as scheduled, with a final turnout of 89.18%, both in Dhaka and Chittagong regions.
At the Dhaka centre, 1,839 out of 2,032 votes were casted, around 90.5% of the city's total votes, while in Chittagong 387 out of 462 votes were casted, around 83.4% of the total votes.
In both regions, 2,226 votes were casted out of 2,496 votes -- 89.18% of total votes.