The search committee, tasked to propose 10 names to form the next Election Commission, handed over the final nominations to President Abdul Hamid at Bangabhaban. Cabinet Secretary Khandker Anwarul Islam briefed the reporters in front of the Bangabhaban around 8:00pm. He said, "The search committee has submitted its report to the president."
"The president has accepted it. Now he'll scrutinize it a bit. Later, he will give instructions. In a day or two... Notifications will be issued as soon as possible," he added. When asked if the notification will be issued today, he replied, "as soon as possible".
Asked whether the 10 names would be public, the secretary said, "The rule is to announce the names of five people. You will know about the five persons who will be appointed. It will be quick."
He also said that there is no possibility of issuing the notification today. However, the head of the committee, Justice Obaidul Hassan, however, did not go to Bangabhaban this evening.
Earlier in the day, Mohammad Joynal Abedin, press secretary to the president, said the six-member search committee was set to meet the president at Bangabhaban at 7:15 pm. A source in the committee said they proposed two names for the post of CEC who do not have experience of serving in a bureaucratic post.The names discussed for the next EC are former cabinet secretary Musharraf Hossain Bhuiyan, former cabinet secretary Mohammad Shafiul Alam, former secretary Habibul Awal, ex-army chief Iqbal Karim Bhuiyan, former secretary Ujjwal Bikash Dutta, Justice (retd) Nazmun Ara Sultana, former Dhaka University VC AAMS Arefin Siddique, DU teacher Sadeka Halim, local government expert Tofail Ahmed, President of Fair Election Monitoring Alliance (FEMA) Munira Khan, economist Mansur Ahmed and former principal secretary Abdul Karim.
