High Court order puts CCCI election on hold again

Chattogram’s premier trade body, the Chittagong Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI), is once again facing uncertainty as its long-awaited election has been suspended following a directive from the High Court.

Although a new date of April 4 had been announced for the second time, Election Commissioner Monwara Begum declared it postponed due to “unavoidable circumstances.”

The development was confirmed in a press release issued to the media today.

Business sources said a four-member full bench of the Supreme Court heard the matter on March 12. The court directed that the CCCI dispute must be resolved by the Alternative Dispute Resolution Tribunal of FBCCI by April 26, effectively suspending the April 4 election.

Previously, when the election date was first announced for November 1, 2025, the High Court had stayed the election on October 30, 2025, delaying the process by nearly five months.

On March 3, 2026, the CCCI declared April 4 as the new date for its biennial election, to be held at the World Trade Center in Agrabad. However, the High Court’s latest order blocked the process once again.

Lawyer Ashfakur Rahman, representing petitioner businessman Mohammad Belal, told The Daily Star, “The court has directed the FBCCI tribunal to deliver a decision on the dispute by April 26. It also instructed that the High Court’s latest order must be considered, leaving no scope for the election to proceed under current rules.”

Under CCCI rules, the board is formed through direct votes, including 12 directors from the general category, 6 from the associate category, and 6 from the town association and trade group categories, totaling 24 members.

From these directors, a president and two vice presidents are subsequently elected. This year, six candidates from the town association and trade group categories were set to be elected unopposed.

According to chamber sources, the last contested election took place in 2013, and all subsequent committees were formed unopposed. Following the schedule announced on August 11, 2025, business leaders had anticipated a long-overdue vote.

However, disputes over “pocket voters” in the trade group category prompted one faction to first approach FBCCI and later the courts.

Mohammad Amirul Haque, managing director of Premier Cement, told The Daily Star, “This historic organisation has not held an election for over a year and a half. Those who have delayed the process through litigation need to explain who really benefits.”

Amirul also serves as president of the Bangladesh Cement Manufacturers Association (BCMA) for 2025–2027 and president of the LPG Operators Association of Bangladesh (LOAB).

He said, “With no elected board, a government officer is currently acting as administrator. Businesspeople have limited access to raise their issues with the government. Over the past two years, local and global challenges have made this the toughest period for the business community, and there is no proper guardian in Chittagong to address these problems.”