Dhaka: The six-member ‘Search Committee’ established to form a new Election Commission (EC) is scheduled to meet President Mohammed Shahabuddin at Bangabhaban at 6:15 PM tomorrow. This meeting is part of a courtesy call, as confirmed by the President’s Press Secretary Md Joynal Abedin to BSS this evening.
According to Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha, the search committee was instituted under Clause-3 of ‘The Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners Appointment Act, 2022.’ This Act mandates the committee to propose names of eligible candidates for the roles of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) and other Election Commissioners (ECs). The committee is chaired by Justice Zubayer Rahman Chowdhury from the Supreme Court Appellate Division.
The committee comprises Senior Justice of High Court Division AKM Asaduzzaman, the Comptroller and Auditor General (OCAG) of Bangladesh, the Chairman of the Bangladesh Public Service Commission (BPSC), former Professor of International Relations at Dhaka Univers
ity Prof Dr. Chowdhury Rafiqul Abrar, and former Chairman of BPSC Professor Dr. ZN Tahmida Begum.
A gazette notification, signed by Cabinet Secretary Dr. Sheikh Abdur Rashid, was published on October 31, 2024, to formalize the creation of the search committee. The notification specifies that the committee will perform its duties in line with ‘The Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners Appointment Act, 2022,’ with the cabinet division providing essential secretarial support for the committee’s operations.