Ex-secy Nurul Huda new CEC

Former secretary KM Nurul Huda has been chosen to lead the next Election Commission.

President Abdul Hamid appointed him chief election commissioner last night in line with a constitutional provision, according to a gazette notification issued around 10:00pm.

The president also appointed four election commissioners who include one woman for the first time. They are Mahbub Talukder, former additional secretary; Md Rafiqul Islam, ex-secretary; Begum Kabita Khanam, former district and sessions judge; and Brig Gen (retd) Shahadat Hossain Chowdhury.

The oath-taking ceremony of the new EC would take place today or tomorrow, said sources at the Bangabhaban.

In his immediate reaction, the newly appointed CEC said, "I am grateful to the president for appointing me to this important constitutional position. I will try my best to carry out the responsibility impartially in line with the constitution."

Nurul Huda, a freedom fighter, told The Daily Star that he would devise a work strategy for the commission after consulting his colleagues.

"We will sit with the political parties because they are the most important stakeholders," he said, seeking cooperation from all political parties, civil society members as well as other stakeholders in performing his duties.

Earlier, Cabinet Secretary Shafiul Alam said Nurul Huda's name was not there in the proposals of the ruling Awami League and the BNP, submitted to the six-member search committee for constituting the next EC.

Of the commissioners, Mahbub's name was suggested by the BNP while Kabita's name was proposed by the AL, he told reporters at the Cabinet Division.

In the evening, the search panel met the president at the Bangabhaban, and proposed the names of Nurul Huda and ex-cabinet secretary Ali Imam Majumder for the CEC post.

Majumder was also recommended for the job in 2012 but the then president didn't pick him.

Born in 1948 in Patuakhali's Baufal, Nurul Huda completed his schooling in Patuakhali. He obtained his graduation and master's in Statistics from Dhaka University.

He also studied Public Administration and Advanced Studies at the University of Manchester, and pursued further studies in the then Soviet Union, he said.

Nurul Huda joined the 1971 Liberation War in Sector-9.

In July 1973, he joined the civil service in the administration cadre after passing the Public Service Commission examination, according to sources in the civil service.

In his service career, he was deputy commissioner of Comilla and Faridpur. Soon after the BNP-led alliance came to power in 2001, he was sent into forced retirement.

Nurul Huda said he was a joint secretary at that time.

He fought a legal battle against the then government's move. But by the time he got a verdict in his favour in 2008, he had already retired in 2006.

He was made secretary with retrospective effect after the AL came to power in 2009.

According to his LinkedIn profile, Nurul Huda served as director (administration and human resources) at Gemcon Ltd, a multisectoral private company. He also worked as chairman of North West Zone Power Distribution Company Ltd.

Lastly, he served as managing director of Bangladesh Municipal Development Fund and retired from the job in 2015, it shows.

Talking to The Daily Star last night, several BNP leaders said the party is “aggrieved” and “frustrated” over the newly formed EC.

The party would hold a press conference today to give its formal reaction to this.

Last night, BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia had discussions on the new EC with the party's standing committee members at her Gulshan office. The leaders expressed their frustration over the new EC, according to sources present at the meeting.

PROFILE OF ELECTION COMMISSIONERS

Brig Gen (retd) Shahadat was project director of “Preparation of Electoral Roll with Photographs and Facilitating the Issuance of National Identity Cards” during the tenure of the last caretaker government.

Another Election Commissioner, Rafiqul Islam, had worked in the EC Secretariat for a long time.

Talking to this newspaper, he said, “I am happy that the honourable president has given me an important task. I will try my best to carry out the responsibility properly. I want cooperation from all.”

The first-ever woman Election Commissioner, Begum Kabita Khanam, is a retired district and sessions judge. She began her career at the Munsef Court in Rajshahi in 1984 and retired in June last year.

REACTIONS

AL Joint General Secretary Mahbubul Alam Hanif said, "There is no question about the impartiality of those picked by the president."

He hoped all political parties would welcome the new EC and assist it in discharging its responsibilities.

"I hope this commission will hold free and fair elections," he said.

Contacted, BNP Vice Chairman Abdullah Al Noman said, "BNP will give its formal reaction tomorrow after discussing the issue in the party forum."

Congratulating the new EC, former election commissioner Brig Gen (retd) M Shakhawat Hussain said, "It seems to me that the commission is good."

He said the commission would have to prove its efficiency through work.

THE APPOINTMENT PROCESS

On January 25, the president formed the search panel, headed by Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain, after holding talks with 31 political parties on EC formation.

According to a gazette notification issued that day, the panel would recommend two names each for the posts of CEC and four election commissioners. And it would present its recommendations to the president in 10 working days.

Yesterday, the panel finalised 10 names at its last meeting at the Supreme Court Judges' Lounge.

After the meeting, Additional Cabinet Secretary Abdul Wadud told journalists that the names were finalised on the basis of the civil society members' suggestions and the criteria they had given to the committee in two phases, he said.

The panel recommended eight names for the four posts of election commissioner. They included ex-additional secretary Mahbub Talukder, Dhaka University professor Zarina Rahman Khan, ex-secretary Md Rafiqul Islam, local government expert Tofail Ahmed, former district and sessions judge Begum Kabita Khanam, ex-planning commission member Md Abdul Mannan, Brig Gen (retd) Shahadat Hossain Chowdhury and Janipop Chairman Nazmul Ahsan Kalimuallah.

Of them, Tofail's name was proposed by the BNP, said the cabinet secretary.

The tenure of the incumbent commission headed by Kazi Rakibuddin Ahmed expires tomorrow, while one of the four commissioners would retire on February 14.

In its first meeting on January 28, the panel asked 31 political parties to propose five names each for the posts of CEC and commissioners by January 31.

The panel then shortlisted 20 names from 128 suggested by 26 political parties. It, however, didn't disclose the names.

Most of the political parties proposed names of former bureaucrats for the CEC post.

Unlike the previous search committee, this panel held meetings with civil society members to get their views on EC formation.

Headed by Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain, the search panel includes Justice Obaidul Hassan, a High Court judge; Muhammed Sadique, chairman of Bangladesh Public Service Commission; Masud Ahmed, comptroller and auditor general of Bangladesh; Prof Syed Manzoorul Islam, trustee board member of Transparency International Bangladesh; and Shireen Akhter, pro-vice chancellor of Chittagong University.