The Election Board for the 2023 Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) Election has declared the candidacy of 134 aspirants as valid against 80 posts.
On Sunday, The Business Post received a list indicating that 73 candidates are contesting and 16 have been nominated for the association group, while 29 candidates are contesting and 16 have been nominated for the chamber group.
Previously, the election board of the apex trade body canceled the candidacies of 32 prominent business leaders for the upcoming election due to loan and tax defaults. Additionally, the candidacies of two other candidates were deferred pending clarification from the National Board of Revenue (NBR).
Out of the 30 candidates who appealed to the Election Board, 27 had their candidacies reinstated, while the appeals of the remaining three were dismissed.
Two candidates chose not to appeal, resulting in the final cancellation of nominations for five businessmen, according to FBCCI sources.
The federation consists of a total of 80 director positions, divided into two categories: 40 directors from chambers and the remaining positions reserved for associations.
According to FBCCI data, there are currently 16 valid candidates for the 17 nominated director posts from the chamber Group, and the same number of valid candidates for the 17 nominated director posts from the association group.
In addition, there are 73 candidates competing for the 23 director posts in the chamber group through direct voting. For the same number of posts in the association group, there are currently 29 valid candidates.
As per the election schedule of FBCCI, the last date for the withdrawal of candidature has been set for July 18.
Cancellation of nominations of five businessmen
Sources indicate that a total of 22 nominations, including those of Md Shafiqul Islam Vorosha and Md Jakir Hossain from the association group, were rejected earlier due to loan and tax defaults.
However, Md Shafiqul Islam Vorosha and Md Jakir Hossain did not appeal to the Election Board to reinstate their candidacies.
Fazlee Shamim Ehsan's nomination was rejected due to a mismatch between his signature and the specimen signature provided in the voter form. The nomination form also had overwriting, leading to its rejection. Although Fazlee Shamim Ehsan appealed to regain his candidature, he did not appear on the day of the appeal hearing. Consequently, his appeal was not accepted by the election board.
Furthermore, the nominations of Abul Hossain and Mohammad Nizam Uddin were canceled due to allegations of debt and tax evasion. Despite their appeals to reinstate their candidacies, the documents submitted by them were not accepted by the election board. As a result, the nominations of these two candidates have been cancelled.
The election will take place on July 31, from 9:00am to 4:00pm without any breaks.
