The newly formed Election Commission (EC), including the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) and four election commissioners, took oath on Sunday.

Chief Justice (CJ) Syed Refaat Ahmed administered the oath to the CEC and the commissioners at the Judges’ Lounge of the Supreme Court at noon.

President Mohammed Shahabuddin appointed retired secretary AMM Nasir Uddin as the CEC on November 21. On the same day, retired additional secretary Md. Anwarul Islam Sarkar, retired district and sessions judge Abdur Rahman Masud, retired joint secretary Begum Tahmida Ahmed, and Brigadier General (retd.) Abul Fazal Md. Sanaullah were appointed as election commissioner.

The appointments were made under Article 118(1) of the Constitution.

The EC was formed based on recommendations from a six-member search committee led by Justice Jubayer Rahman Chowdhury of the Appellate Division. 

The committee was constituted on October 29 under Section 3 of the Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners Appointment Act, 2022. Other members of the committee included High Court Justice AKM Asaduzzaman, the Comptroller and Auditor General, the chairman of the Bangladesh Public Service Commission, former DU professor Dr. Chowdhury Rafiq-ul-Abar, and former PSC chairman Dr. Zinnatun Nessa Tahmida Begum.

Various political parties, professional bodies, and individuals submitted nominations to the search committee. Seventeen parties, including BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami, proposed names, and on November 20, the committee recommended a list of 10 candidates to the President.

The formation of the new EC comes after a leadership vacuum of over one and a half months following the resignation of the previous EC, led by Kazi Habibul Awal, on September 5. 

This was preceded by the fall of the Awami League government on August 5 amid protests and an anti-discrimination student movement. 

Awami League chief and former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina reportedly fled the country during the upheaval.

BDST: 1405 HRS, NOV 24, 2024
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