The Search Committee formed for reconstitution of the Election Commission (EC) on Tuesday decided to hold meetings on February 12 and 13 with 60 prominent persons and senior journalists of the country so that they recommend names for the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) and other members of the Election Commission.
The six-member committee took the decision at its second meeting held Tuesday evening at the Judges’ Lounge of the Supreme Court.
According to meeting sources, the Search Committee will invite the prominent persons though e-mail and other media to attend the meeting scheduled to be held on next Saturday (Feb 12).
Chaired by Justice Obaidul Hassan, the head of the six-member Search Committee, five other members of the committee-- Justice SM Kuddus Zaman, Comptroller and Auditor General Mohammad Muslim Chowdhury, Public Service Commission Chairman Md Sohorab Hossain, former election commissioner Sohul Hussain and writer Anwara Syed Haq--and cabinet secretary Khandaker Anwarul Islam, among others took part in the meeting.
At the end of the meeting, cabinet secretary Khandaker Anwarul Islam told Tuesday night that the Search Committee was going to hold a meeting with around 50 prominent personalities on February 12 and another meeting will be held with at least 10 senior journalists on Feb 13.
“At the meetings, the Search Committee would urge them to suggest names of the personnel, who are eligible to become the CEC and other members of the EC”, said the cabinet secretary.
Earlier, the Search Committee urged all the political parties registered with the EC and also individuals of the country to send names of eligible personnel as the CEC and other EC members.
President Abdul Hamid formed the search committee in line with the new law on forming the Election Commission.
According to sources, the Search Committee later will scrutinized those names submitted by different political parties and later it (Search Committee) will submit highest 10 names to the President of the state.
The "Appointment of Chief Election Commissioner and Election Commissioners Act 2022" was published in an extraordinary gazette by the National Parliament.
The government framed the law as the incumbent EC, headed by KM Nurul Huda, is set to fulfil its five-year tenure in mid-February.
In absence of this law, the president appointed the CEC and commissioners in the past.
The last two election commissions, headed by Kazi Rakibuddin Ahmad and KM Nurul Huda, were constituted in 2012 and 2017 through search committees formed by the president following dialogues with political parties.
