Bangladesh
EC Formation Search committee for EC formation 100% neutral: Cabinet Secretary
Own Correspondent, Dhaka, February 9: Cabinet Secretary Khandaker Anwarul Islam, who is a member of the search committee constituted to form the new Election Commission (EC) and to recommend the names of the chief election commissioner and other election commissioners, has claimed the committee is 100 percent neutral.
He made the remarks while responding to a question from reporters at a briefing in front of the Appellate Division after the second meeting held at the Supreme Court's Judges Lounge on Tuesday (February 8).
At the time, Khandaker Anwarul Islam said the committee will sit with 60 people, including representatives from civil society, media personalities and election experts, to take their views. He also said that political parties can send up to 10 names to the search committee.
Earlier, members of the search committee held a three-and-a-half-hour-long meeting at the Judges' Lounge from 4:30 pm to 8:10 pm on Tuesday. The meeting was attended by the chairman of the search committee, Justice Obaidul Hasan of the Appellate Division. The members of the search committee are- Justice SM Quddus Zaman of the High Court Division, Chairman of the Public Service Commission Mohammad Sohrab Hossain, Auditor and Controller of Accounts Mohammad Muslim Chowdhury and two prominent presidential nominees, former Election Commissioner Mohammad Sohul Hossain and fiction writer Anwara Syed Haque.
After the meeting, the Cabinet Secretary told reporters that another meeting will be held next Saturday from 11:00 am to 12:30 pm and from 12:45 pm to 2:15 pm with our prominent citizens or professionals or journalists. Then there will be one more meeting on Sunday, February 13, at 4 pm. There will be a total of three meetings.
