Twenty five registered political parties, including the Awami League (AL) and the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), yesterday submitted 125 names to the search committee tasked to recommend names for the new Election Commission.
Briefing reporters in the afternoon, additional secretary to the cabinet division Abdul Wadud said they had received envelopes from 27 political parties till 3pm. He said four other political parties did not submit any letter.
Replying to a question, Wadud said he does not know the contents of the sealed envelopes and he would only hand them over to the search committee.
Later, Cabinet Secretary Mohammad Shafiul Alam told journalists that the search panel has shortlisted 20 names from the 125 they received from the political parties.
“We've got 125 names. After scrutinising them, the search committee shortlisted 20 names,” the cabinet secretary told reporters in front of the Supreme Court Judges’ Lounge.
However, two of the six search committee members told The Independent, preferring anonymity, that they were yet to finalise any list but the process to pick a shortlist was initiated.
Earlier in the day, the Communist Party of Bangladesh (CPB) and the JSD (Rab) submitted their observations on formation of the EC, instead of sending names. The Bangladesh Islami Andolon, Bikalpa Dhara Bangladesh, Bangladesh Khelafat Majlish, and the Gono Forum refrained from submitting names or even letters.
The AL, BNP and the Jatiya Party (JP-Ershad) did not disclose the names submitted to the search committee, but some of the probable names were obtained in discussions with party sources.
Awami League sources said the party high-ups might have proposed the name of the former principal secretary in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), MA Karim, as the CEC. The names of the former information commissioner, Sadeka Halim, former secretary of the food ministry and the PMO, Mollah Wahiduzzaman, Monzur Hossain, former senior research fellow of BIDS, and Nur Mohammad are probably on the list as prospective election commissioners. BNP sources said the names of the former Bangladesh Bank governor, Dr Salehuddin Ahmed, former secretary Asaf-Ud-Dowla, Constitution expert Dr Shahdeen Malik, local government expert Prof. Tofayel Ahmed, and Dhaka University Professor Dr Tasneem Arefa Siddiqui were proposed for the new EC.
Six other alliance partners of the BNP have separately submitted names for the EC, keeping a few names common with the list of the BNP.
The partners also submitted the names of cabinet secretary Sadat Hossain, former secretary Alauddin Sarker, former IGP Azizul Haque, Brig-Gen. (Retd) Sakhawat Hossain, Brig. (Retd) AJM Fazlur Rahman, eminent citizen Debapriya Bhattacharya, and Prof. Dilara Chowdhury.
After submitting the names to the additional secretary of the Cabinet Division, Md Abdul Wadud, at about 12:15pm, the BNP's senior joint secretary general, Ruhul Kabir Rizvi, said he has submitted a sealed envelope containing the names.
“We have submitted the names in the light of the criteria provided in the party's 13-point proposal for the new EC,” he said.
The BNP leader, however, did not disclose the names but said they would continue the effort for the sake of democracy.
On behalf of the AL, office secretary Dr Abdus Sobhan submitted the names to Abdul Wadud at about 12:45pm.
Talking to reporters, he said he submitted the names at the directive of the Prime Minister and party chief, Sheikh Hasina, and under the supervision of the party general secretary, Obaidul Quader.
He said the names were chosen at the AL central working committee meeting on Monday night.
Replying to a question, he said the names were selected considering the background, transparency in their career, and upholding the spirit of the War of Liberation.
On Saturday, the search committee sent letters to 31 registered political parties, invited by the President for talks on forming the next EC, to provide names for it. The deadline ended at 3:00pm yesterday.
The other political parties that submitted names for the EC include the Jatiya Party (Ershad), Liberal Democratic Party, Bangladesh Krishak Sramik Janata League, Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (Inu), Workers' Party, Bangladesh Nationalist Front, Islami Oikya Jote, Jatiya Party (JP), Torikat Federation, Bangladesher Jatiya Party (BJP), Bangladesh NAP, Sammoyabadi Dal, Gonotontri Party, Khelafat Andolon, Socialist Party of Bangladesh (SPB), JSD (Ambia), NAP (Mozaffar), Gono Front, Jomiyat-e-Ulema Islam Bangladesh, Khelafat Majlish, Bangladesh Islami Front, Bangladesh Muslim League and the Jaker Party.