Swachip splitting hairs in medical polls

Dr Mujibul Haque Khan, incumbent president and Dr Faysal Iqbal Chowdhury,  joint secretary general of Chittagong chapter BMA are leading one panel while Dr Nasir, member secretary of Chittagong Medical College unit Swachip and Dr ANM Minhazur, central organizing secretary of the organisation are leading another panel. Both feuding panels are accusing each other in various ways including verbal abuse and campaign obstruction. On December 8, the Chittagong office of Swachip issued a notice to all voters and candidates that Prabartak School and College had been selected as the venue of the elections. The situation took a dramatic turn when Dr Alauddin Mazumder resigned from the post of convener in the face of mounting pressure for changing the election venue. Confirming his resignation on Saturday night, Dr Alauddin Mazumder also said  he resigned for personal reason. However, the BMA has not accepted his resignation yet. Chittagong City Corporation (CCC) Mayor AJM Nasir Uddin introduced the Dr Mujibul-Dr Faysal panel at the conference room of Chittagong Medical College on November 22. On the other hand, the Dr Nasir-Dr Minhazur panel made contact with former city mayor and Chittagong city AL president ABM Mohiuddin Chowdhury. Dr Nasir Uddin Mahmud alleged that the rival panel members were intimidating them and obstructing their electoral campaign. “At least five magistrates should be deployed and CCTV cameras should be installed in the venue for the sake of a free, fair and impartial election,” added Dr Nasir. Dr Mujibul Haque Khan also denied the allegations. He told the Dhaka Tribune that the physicians would cast their vote in favour of their panel as they worked for upholding the dignity of the profession. Dr Moinuddin Ahmed, member of BMA Election Commission 2016-17, told the Dhaka Tribune that there was no provision of deploying magistrate or setting up CCTV camera in the constitution of BMA. A total of 4,442 physicians will cast their votes to elect a 23-member committee. According to the schedule, the BMA election will be held from 10am to 5pm on December 22. BNP-backed Doctors Association of Bangladesh (DAB) announced to boycott the election to the Bangladesh Medical Association (BMA) on Thursday. They boycotted the election saying that their demand for reconstituting its election commission and reschedule for the polls were not met.