Civil leaders suggest strong and honest persons for EC

Staff Correspondent: Civil society leaders suggested the search committee to recommend the names of, honest, efficient, strong and neutral persons to form the next Election Commission.

Barrister Rokonuddin Mahmud made the disclosure after a meeting with the Election Commission search committee at Supreme Court judges’ lounge on Wednesday afternoon.

 

"Holding an accepted election amide political pressure is a big challenge. We hope the search committee will be able to recommend names for EC accepted to all," he said.

 

Daily Samakal Editor Golam Sarwar, former CEC Abu Hena, and The Daily Star Editor Mahfuz Anam were the other members of the civil society leaders who attended the meeting and spoke to media.

Speaking to media, former chief of the EC Abu Hena said: “The next election commissioners have to be competent, honest and they must remain strong to keep themselves outside political influence."

 

The meeting took place in the backdrop of the search committee short-listing 20 names from those recommended by different political parties as potential Election Commissioners.

 

Earlier on Monday, the Election Commission search committee had talks with 12 other representatives of the civil society.

The committee will hold another meeting at the same venue on Thursday afternoon.

 
The search committee is headed Appellate Division judge Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain. The other members of the committee are High Court judge Justice Obaidul Hassan, Bangladesh Public Service Commission Chairman Dr Muhammed Sadique, Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) Masud Ahmed, Dhaka University English Department Professor Syed Manzoorul Islam, and Chittagong University Pro-VC Shireen Akhter.

 
risingbd/DHAKA/1 Feb 2017/Mehedi/Augustin Sujan