The new election commission will take oath today.
Earlier the government has constituted EC led by former Secretary AMM Nasir Uddin as the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC). At the same time, the government has selected four people as commissioners. The President made the appointment in light of the recommendations of the search committee formed by the government to find a suitable person to form the Election Commission. A notification in this regard was issued by the Cabinet Division on Thursday.
The five newly appointed commissioners are scheduled to take oath at the Supreme Court Lounge on Sunday afternoon. Chief Justice Syed Refaat Ahmed will administer the oath to them, according to sources in the Chief Justice’s office.
The next national elections will be held under this commission, which has been given responsibility for the next five years. In addition, all other elections including city corporations, district councils, upazila councils, municipalities, union councils will also be held under this commission.
The four commissioners are former Additional Secretary Md. Anwarul Islam Sarkar, former district and sessions judge Abdur RahmanelMachud, former joint secretary Tahmida Ahmed and Brigadier General (retd) Abul Fazal Md. Sanaullah.
Analysts say that the election system has been completely destroyed due to widespread irregularities and fraud in the last three national elections and local government elections. The common people have turned their backs on the elections that were once a source of great interest. Restoring the trust of the voters will be a big challenge for the new commission. However, many believe that the former CECs Kazi Rakib, Nurul Huda and Kazi Awal commission had to work under the party government. The new commission formed under the current interim government will have the opportunity to work in a very supportive environment.
Earlier on Wednesday, a six-member search committee led by Justice Zubair Rahman Chowdhury of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court sent a list of 10 people to the President at Bangabhaban in the form of recommendations. The government selected five of them. During the formation of the previous three election commissions, the members of the search committee went to Bangabhaban to meet the President and submit their names, but this time they did not go. Earlier, the search committee invited names from various social organizations and individuals, including political parties. According to party sources, AMM Nasir Uddin’s name was on the list of BNP, one of the country’s leading political parties.
The 12th parliamentary elections were held on January 7 under the commission led by Kazi Habibul Awal. The election was boycotted by the opposition parties including BNP. As a result, the Awami League formed the government for the fourth consecutive time with an absolute majority in the election, which was labeled a ‘one-sided and dummy’ election. On August 5, most of the ministers and MPs of that government, including Sheikh Hasina, fled the country in the face of the student and public uprising. The next day, the President dissolved the parliament. Although there was a constitutional directive to hold elections within 90 days of dissolving the parliament, the commission led by Kazi Habibul Awal resigned on September 5, considering the adverse situation. Since then, these constitutional posts have been vacant.
Administration sources said that Nasir Uddin, who was appointed as the country’s 14th CEC, was previously the secretary of the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, the Ministry of Information and Health and the chairman of the National Board of Revenue. The bureaucrat, who retired in 2010, was recently given the responsibility of the Local Government Reform Commission by the interim government. This time, he has been given the responsibility of the Election Commission. Nasir Uddin’s ancestral home is in Kutubdia, Cox’s Bazar. He was a direct student of Chief Advisor Dr. Muhammad Yunus. Later, they were also colleagues as teachers in the Economics Department of Chittagong University. Nasir Uddin is an officer of the BCS 1979 batch of the administration cadre.
After the notification was issued, Nasir Uddin told reporters at his Eskaton residence that the big challenge for him was to fix the obstacles that people faced in exercising their voting rights. Many people lost their lives in July-August. Earlier, many people were victims of torture and disappearances. Their demand was to restore voting rights. People wanted to vote for their preferred candidates in a free environment. But they could not do so. People were deprived of their right to vote in 2014, 2018 and 2024.
Various discussions are underway regarding the participation of all parties in the elections. When asked about this, Chief Election Commissioner Nasir Uddin said that nothing can be said in advance about this. Because there are various discussions about different parties. As a result, things will be clear when the time comes.
In response to a question about his name being on the BNP list, he said that he never thought that he would be appointed as the Chief Election Commissioner. As a result, he will try to maintain this status. He will discharge his duties honestly and impartially. The new Election Commission under his leadership will make every effort to provide fair, free and impartial elections.
Nasir Uddin further said, “People voted freely in 1991 and 2001. Such an environment must be created. This is not difficult. All the opposition parties, including those who are there, want to establish the right to vote. I have to work with them.’ Abdur RahmanelMachud (AR Machud), who was appointed as the Election Commissioner, immediately responded to the countrymen and said, ‘Please pray. Whatever work comes to me in the future, I may do it well, honestly and faithfully.’
Meanwhile, former District Judge Abdur RahmanelMachud, who was appointed as Commissioner, has been working as the Chief Legal Advisor of Janata Bank in Dhaka since 2017. Before that, he retired as a member of the Administrative Tribunal-1 of Dhaka on January 1, 2017 with the rank of District Judge. During his career, he was a District Judge of Comilla, Chuadanga and Rajshahi. He has 18 books on various legal subjects including Election Law, Anti-Corruption Law, Criminal Procedure Code.
Among the new commissioners, former Additional Secretary Md. Anwarul Islam served as the Chairman of the Government’s Sustainable and Renewable Energy Development Authority before retiring. This former officer of the 85th batch has served in multiple positions in the Ministry of Public Administration. In 2016, he was made the Chairman of the Bangladesh Energy and Power Research Council with the rank of Acting Secretary. Before that, he also served as the Director of the National Housing Authority.
Former Joint Secretary Begum Tahmida Ahmed took charge as the Joint Secretary (Law) of the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism on January 3, 2018. That same year, he first became the Joint Secretary of the Ministry of Textiles and Jute and later the Director of the Jute Directorate. Ehsanul Haque, the husband of Tahmida, an 11th administration batch officer, is also a retired bureaucrat of the same batch. His home is in Bhairab, Kishoreganj.
Retired Brigadier General Abul Fazal Md. Sanaullah was the Defense Advisor to the Bangladesh High Commission in Islamabad, Pakistan. The previous government appointed him to this post with the diplomatic rank of Minister in 2020. This army officer of the 18th BMA Long Course was in military service for 35 years.
