DUCSU polls schedule likely by next week

The schedule for the elections to the Dhaka University Central Students Union is likely to be announced by the next week after a gap of over 28 years since 1990.
Chief returning officer international business professor SM Mahfuzur Rahman told New Age on Sunday that they expected to announce the schedule within next week, soon after the completion of the tasks of amending the DUCSU constitution, formulating the electoral code of conduct and finalising the electoral roll.
The university authorities are scheduled for today to sit with active student organisations to exchange views once again on the DUCSU constitution and formulation of the electoral code of conduct.
Proctor Golam Rabbani said that they had already sent a letter to the Dhaka University unit president and secretary of the student organisations inviting them to the meeting at Abdul Matin Chowdhury digital class room of the university Monday morning.
Earlier on January 17, the university appointed international business department professor SM Mahfuzur Rahman as the chief returning officer and formed a 15-member Advisory Council as the authorities were gearing up for the polls.
On Saturday, the university appointed five returning officers and formed a seven-member committee headed pro-vice-chancellor (education) Nasreen Ahmad.
Earlier, after a meeting with student organisations on September 15, 2018, Dhaka University vice-chancellor Akhtaruzzaman at a briefing said that the DUCSU polls might be held by March 2019 and expressed hope that draft electoral roll for the polls would be prepared by October 2018.
On September 12, 2018, 15 former Dhaka University students filed a contempt petition against Dhaka University vice-chancellor Md Akhtaruzzaman, proctor AKM Golam Rabbani and treasurer Kamal Uddin for violating a High Court order asking them to hold the DUCSU polls.
On January 17, 2018, the High Court bench of Justice Syed Muhammad Dastagir Husain and Justice Md Ataur Rahman Khan asked the Dhaka University authorities to take steps for holding DUCSU polls at a ‘suitable time, preferably within six months.’
The DUCSU polls, however, did not take place in the past 28 years because of indifference of the successive university administrations and governments reportedly in order to maintain their dominance on the campus.
This practice breached express provisions of Articles 4 and 20 of the Dhaka University Order 1973 and the fundamental rights ensured under the Article 27 of the order.
This violation renders the elections to the senate committees and office of the vice-chancellor of the university in the past 27 years unconstitutional as five seats in the senate are reserved for the student representatives that remained vacant since the fall of autocratic regime in 1990.
DUCSU was formed in 1924 after the establishment of Dhaka University in 1921, and its first vice-president was nominated in the 1924-25 academic session. Since then, the vice-president used to be nominated until 1953 when the first elections were held.
The latest, DUCSU elections were held in 1990, sixth elections after the independence of the country. Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal-backed panel led by Amanullah Aman and Khairul Kabir Khokan won the elections and they stayed the leaders of the student body until its dissolution.

News Courtesy: www.newagebd.net