The chief election commissioner and two other commissioners in the newly formed commission were recommended by Bangladesh Tariqat Federation, a party that is a member of the ruling Awami League-led 14-party Alliance, said highly placed government and search committee sources.
Search committee’s spokesman Cabinet Secretary Shafiul Alam told the Dhaka Tribune that KM Nurul Huda’s name as CEC was proposed by several parties.
Asked whether Tariqat Federation was one of them, he said it might have been.
The names of CEC KM Nurul Huda and commissioners Brig Gen (retd) Shahadat Hossain Chowdhury and former secretary Rafiqul Islam were among those recommended by Tariqat, said a search committee member, requesting anonymity.
Several Tariqat central committee members, seeking anonymity, also said those three names were recommended by their party.
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The President Abdul Hamid on Monday night appointed former bureaucrat Nurul Huda as CEC and former additional secretary Mahbub Talukder, former secretary Rafiqul Islam, former district and sessions judge Begum Kabita Khanam and Brig Gen (retd) Shahadat Hossain Chowdhury as commissioners.
Mahbub Talukder’s name was proposed by BNP and Begum Kabita Khanam’s name was proposed by ruling Awami League, Cabinet Division’s Secretary Mohammad Shafiul Alam said while announcing the appointments.
Tariqat leadership however, would not say which names were on their list.
When asked, Tariqat Secretary General MA Awal told the Dhaka Tribune: “We urged the president to appoint persons who are pro-liberation, have a clean image and are neutral.”
MA Awal said: “If the president chose our names, may be we proposed the right names.”
The six-member search committee, led by Supreme Court’s Appellate Division Judge Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain, handed over 10 names, picked from 128 recommendations made by 27 political parties, to the president on Monday evening.
Two names were proposed for the CEC’s post, Nurul Huda and former cabinet secretary Ali Imam Majumder.
Cabinet Division sources said Jatiya Party and Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (JSD) had also recommended Nurul Huda.
President Abdul Hamid formed the committee on January 25 after holding a series of talks with 31 registered political parties. The committee was instructed to submit names and recommendations for the Election Commission within 10 working days.
The tenure of the incumbent EC expires Wednesday. The new commission will conduct the next general elections in 2019.
Thursday, June 04, 2026
