Shawdesh Desk:

The names of some personalities have surfaced in the air for the posts of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) and other commissioners for reconstituting the Election Commission (EC).

But it is the President who will ultimately pick the names from a list of 10 to be submitted before him by the Search Committee at the earliest.

A good number of political parties are running discussions at party meetings about proposing names of qualified persons for the posts of CEC and four other commissioners by Friday.

Ruling Awami League also decided to propose 10 names to the Search Committee.

Main opposition Jatiya Party has already said it would send the names by the stipulated time while Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and some other parties decided not to send any names to the Search Committee.

The move came as the Search Committee, a body formed to recommend prospective names for the appointment of CEC and other commissioners before the President, urged registered political parties to send their choices to the body.

The Search Committee on Wednesday sent letters to all parties to submit their choice lists before it.

It also sent letters to Federation of Bangladesh University Teachers’ Association (FBUTA), Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industries (FBCCI), Jatiya Press Club (JPC), Bangladesh Bar Council, Bangladesh Medical Association (BMA), Krishibid Institution, Bangladesh (KIB), Institution of Engineers, Bangladesh (IEB), Institution of Diploma Engineers, Bangladesh (IDEB) and others urging them to participate in its meetings.

AL policymakers have left the matter of selecting the names for the post of the CEC and other commissioner to party President Sheikh Hasina.

According to political insiders, the names of some personalities, including former justices, a former vice-chancellor, a former cabinet secretary, two former senior army officers, a former chairman of Public Service Commission, a former inspector general of police, and former secretaries are in the air.

They are former cabinet secretaries Mohammad Shafiul Alam and Mosharraf Hossain Bhuiyan, former PSC Chairman Muhammed Sadique, former Chief Justice Khairul Haque, former Justices Momtaz Uddin Ahmed and Abu Bakar Sidique, former Principal Secretary and National Board of Revenue (NBR) Chairman Nazibur Rahman, former Law Secretary Kazi Habibul Awal, former Home Secretary Mostafa Kamal Uddin and former IGP Shahidul Haque.

In this regard, the ruling party held a meeting of the presidium, highest policymaking body of the party, on Tuesday with its President and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the chair.

At the meeting, the party president collected probable names from the presidium members and she will finalise the 10 names from the list.

“The final list is now at the hand of party President Sheikh Hasina and she will deliver it before Search Committee anytime,” a presidium member said.

AL presidium member Faruk Khan told the Daily Sun that they have recommended names for the posts of CEC and four commissioners. “Our party chief will prepare a shortlist of 10 individuals recommended by the presidium members and send it to the Search Committee,” he said.

JP Chairman GM Quader said, “We’re collecting names from the party’s senior leaders and will submit those to the Search Committee soon.”

Earlier on February 5, the six-member Search Committee, headed by Justice Obaidul Hassan of Supreme Court’s Appellate Division, was formed for recommending the names of eligible individuals for the posts of CEC and other commissioners to reconstitute the EC.

The body will propose two names against each of the five posts analysing their qualifications and ineligibility.

President Abdul Hamid will then constitute the new EC taking five names from the proposed list. The new EC will oversee the next parliamentary and other elections to be held in the next five years.

The tenure of the incumbent EC, led by CEC KM Nurul Huda, ends on February 14. The President has to form the new EC before the tenure of the incumbent EC.

There has been a longstanding demand for forming the EC in line with the provision of the Constitution. As there was no specific law in this regard, late President Zillur Rahman took initiative for talks with the registered political parties and formed the Search Committee for appointing the CEC and other commissioners.

Incumbent President M Abdul Hamid also followed his predecessor while reconstituting the EC.

Amid talks with the registered political parties, the government on January 17 approved the EC formation bill.

After debate in and outside Parliament, the bill was passed on January 27 with a provision of keeping a female in the Search Committee.