C T Online Desk: The search committee appointed to recommend suitable candidates for the next Election Commission has finalized 10 candidates whose names will be submitted to the president.
The list was finalized during a meeting headed by committee chief Justice Obaidul Hassan at the Supreme Court Judge’s Lounge on Tuesday.
Cabinet Secretary Khandaker Anwarul Islam confirmed the matter after the committee’s final meeting on Tuesday.
The names will be sealed and sent to the Cabinet Division, he said, adding that the committee would meet the president with the list on February 24.
“All their meetings and selections are already done. They will submit the final result now. After that the appointment process will start according to the decision taken by the president,” he said.
Cabinet division sources said that though the Search Committee had revealed the names of 322 recommended candidates in the second week of February, the 10 final names would not be disclosed.
“The final names will be submitted to the president directly,” the cabinet secretary said, adding 5-10 more names were added in the primary list for consideration as the time for submitting names were extended after the disclosure of 322 names.
Responding to queries on how the names of the candidates had been finalized, he said: “They [the committee] have fixed it. I was not a member of the committee, so I was not there at that time.”
Former civil and military bureaucrats, judges, police officials, academics and top government officials are among the candidates recommended to the search committee for appointment as the next chief election commissioner and election commissioners, sources have said.
The search committee members — High Court Division Justice SM Kuddus Zaman, Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) Mohammad Muslim Chowdhury, Public Service Commission (PSC) Chairman Mohammed Sohrab Hossain, former Election Commissioner Mohammed Sohul Hossain and Writer Prof Anwara Syed Haq — joined the meeting on Tuesday.
During a break in the meeting, the members of the search committee paid a courtesy call on Chief Justice Hasan Foez Siddique.
Earlier on Saturday, the committee shortlisted 20 names from over 300 names proposed by political parties, eminent citizens and individuals.
According to the law, the committee will recommend 10 names, two for each member of the Election Commission.
The president will then finalize the five-member commission that will oversee the next national election.
The recommended candidates must meet the following requirements under the law: be Bangladeshi citizens, be at least 50 years of age and have 20 years of relevant experience.
Earlier, the search committee held meetings with 47 eminent personalities in four phases to garner suggestions over the formation of the next EC.
On February 14, the Cabinet Division, which is providing secretarial support to the search committee, published 322 names that the political parties, professional bodies and individuals proposed for inclusion by the search committee on its website.
