Search Committee submits 10 names to president

The search committee on the Election Commission on Thursday submitted 10 names to President Abdul Hamid at Bangabhaban.

The president will now review the names to pick five among them for appointment as chief election commissioner and four other commissioners, Cabinet Secretary Khandker Anwarul Islam said. Two names have been proposed for each post.

He said the chosen names will soon be published through gazette notification.

The search committee chief Justice Obaidul Hassan and other members Justice SM Quddus Zaman of the High Court Division, Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) Mohammad Muslim Chowdhury, Public Service Commission (PSC) Chairman Mohammed Sohrab Hossain, former Election Commissioner Mohammed Sohul Hossain and Writer Prof Anwara Syed Haq met the president at Bangabhaban in the evening.

The search committee earlier published 322 names that the political parties, professional bodies and individuals proposed for inclusion by the search committee on its website.

The names of a few people are found more than once by checking and sorting the list. After the correction, there were 315 names in the list. Later the names of the list were reduced to 50 people, subsequently 20 and finally 10 names.

Several parties including BNP and CPB did not give any list to the search committee.

At the very beginning, the president held talks with the registered political parties, where BNP and a few others refused to hold sittings over EC formation.

Meanwhile, most of all political parties, including the ruling Awami League and main opposition in the Jatiya Sangsad (JS) Jatiya Party (JaPa) took part in the discussion.

They proposed to enact a new law to ensure a strong and acceptable EC to hold free, fair and credible general elections in the days to come.

In the midst of much discussion and criticism, parliament passed the law over EC formation procedure on January 27.

Later, the president formed a six-member EC search committee under the law on February 5.