BNP Senior Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi made the demand in a briefing at the party’s Nayapaltan headquarters on Monday afternoon.
Rizvi said: “Political parties have submitted names to the committee so that the election commission is an impartial one. The search committee should be conscientious and suggest the names of trustworthy people.”
He added: “If the committee ignores this and recommends names prioritising the ruling party’s opinion, then history will repeat itself and we will be left with a chief election commissioner like Rakib Uddin.”
He also feared that the “democracy of the country would be buried” if the election commission does not select such trusted people.
The BNP leader further added that people were apprehensive about the search committee's recommendations.
“We are not asking the search committee to realise Khaleda Zia’s 13-point demands on EC reformation. We demand that the election commission should be formed following the opinions of all the political parties,” Rizvi said.
The EC search committee will meet the president on Monday evening to submit their recommendations for the 11th Election commission.
The search panel shortlisted 20 people out of about 125 names suggested by 27 political parties, including the ruling Awami League and BNP.
Four parties – Islami Andolan Bangladesh, Bikalpadhara Bangladesh, Gono Forum and Bangladesh Khelafat Majlish – refrained from recommending anyone.
President Md Abdul Hamid formed the panel on January 25 after discussions with 31 registered political parties.
The committee was instructed to suggest two names for each post and outline recommendations within ten working days.
The president’s instructions on EC reformation also included the suggestion that a female election commissioner be picked for the first time in Bangladesh's history.
Saturday, March 15, 2025
