Search committee may pick common names [ Tritiyo Matra News ]

Search committee may pick common names

Local February 05, 2017

The search committee for the Election Commission reconstitution is likely to recommend names mostly common on the lists given by political parties for the chief and other election commissioners.
No names were, however, common on the lists given by the ruling Awami League and the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, a search committee member said.
The lists given by the two parties, however, have some names common on the lists given by their alliance partners and the search committee may pick the people mostly common on the lists given by either of the alliances.
A senior Cabinet Division official said that most of the names to be recommended to president Abdul Hamid would come from the shortlist of 20 names prepared with names mostly common on the lists given by the parties.
The Cabinet Division is giving secretarial assistance to the six-member committee led by Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain formed by the president on January 25.
Responding to a call by the search committee, 28 registered political parties submitted lists of 125 people in total as the deadline for giving the lists expired on January 31.
Awami League and eight partners – Workers Party of Bangladesh, Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal faction led by information minister Hasanul Huq Inu and Sharif Nurul Ambia, Bangladesh Tarikat Federation, Ganatantri Party, Jatiya Party (JP), Bangladesher Samyabadi Dal, and National Awami Party (Muzaffar) – submitted lists of five names each.
Three names – former secretary of the Prime Minister’s Office Molla Wahi
duzzaman, former inspector general of police Nur Mohammad and former principal secretary to the prime minister MA Karim – are common on the lists given by the AL-led alliance, cabinet division officials said.
Besides the common three individuals, AL suggested the names of former local government division senior secretary Monzur Hossain and former information commissioner Sadeka Halim, party leaders said.
Four individuals – former secretary M Asafuddowla, former Bangladesh Bank governor Salehuddin Ahmed, local government expert Tofial Ahmed and Dhaka University teacher Tasnim A Siddiqui – were common on the list given by BNP and its allies Bangladesh Jatiya Party, Liberal Democratic Party, Khelafat Majlish, Bangladesh National Awami Party, Muslim League and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam.
Besides the common four individuals, BNP also proposed the name of Supreme Court lawyer Shahdeen Malik, BNP leaders said.
Asked about the process of selecting 10 names to be recommended to the president by February 8, Cabinet Division additional secretary Abdul Wadud said that the search committee was reviewing the primary list of common names taking opinions given by eminent citizens into consideration.
He said that the committee included no new names on the shortlist it prepared with 20 names mostly common on the lists given by the political parties.
The committee is now reviewing the shortlist to drop 10 names, a committee member said, adding that the 10 names to be recommended to the president might be finalised on Monday.
The search committee held two meetings with 16 eminent citizens for getting their suggestions and they urged the committee to select honest, credible and nonpartisan people for the commission.
The president held talks with 31 of the 40 registered political parties on the reconstitution of the commission between December 18, 2016 and January 18, 2017.
The search committee on January 28 urged the 31 parties to submit lists of their choices and 28 of the parties submitted their suggestions.
Of the 28 parties, the Communist Party of Bangladesh and the Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal faction led by ASM Rob gave no list of names but suggested the formation of a strong commission.
Islami Andolan Bangladesh, Bangladesh Khelafat Majlish and Gana Forum submitted neither any proposal nor any names.
The tenure of the incumbent chief election commissioner and four election commissioners, who were recommended by the previous search committee led by Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain, would expire by mid-February.