Mohiuddin-led panel wins FBCCI polls

Shafiul Islam Mohiuddin's Sammilita Ganatantrik Parishad panel won 16 out of 18 posts of directors at the biennial election to the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) yesterday.

With this victory, Mohiuddin, incumbent vice-president of the FBCCI, would be the next president of the country's apex trade body for the 2017-2019 tenure.

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Chairman of the election board Ali Ashraf, MP, announced the elections result around 11:00pm at the Bangabandhu International Conference Centre.

The election was to the association group of the FBCCI, where Babosayee Oikkyo Forum, the opposition panel convened by Kazi Iftaquer Hossain, president of the Bangladesh Garment Buying House Association, secured two directors' posts.

Earlier, in the polls to the FBCCI chamber group, Mohiuddin's panel won all 18 posts of directors unopposed.

Of the 1,905 voters, 1,666 cast their votes in the association group to elect the office bearers of the FBCCI. The number of voters in the chamber group was 458, an election board source said.

Under a neutral election board, 36 directors (18 from chamber group and 18 from association group) are elected.

The 36 elected directors along with another 12 directors in the association group and 12 in the chamber group nominated by the government would elect the president and two vice-presidents on May 16.

The voting began at 9:00am yesterday and continued until 5:15pm without any break, said the election board source.

“No untoward incident happened during the election. No candidate complained about vote rigging or receiving any threats,” said the election board chairman.

The elections used to be between two strong panels but over the last few instances one-sided elections have been the norm due to the absence of a strong opposition panel.