Twenty-one candidates of BNP-Jamaat-backed panel Oikya Parishad are going to win uncontested in the Chattogram District Bar Association election.
Meanwhile, Awami League and leftist lawyers could not buy nomination forms in the face of various obstacles.
After scrutinizing the nomination papers on Friday, the Election Commission announced the names of single candidates for all posts, including president and general secretary.
Unopposed BNP-backed candidates are President Abdus Sattar, General Secretary Md Hasan Ali Chowdhury, Senior Vice-President Kazi Mohammad Siraj, Finance Secretary Anwar Hossain, Library Secretary Touhidul Islam, Cultural Secretary Ashrafi Binte Motaleb, Sports Secretary Manjur Hossain and executive members Ahsan Ullah, Asma Khanam, Bibi Fatema, Mezbah Ul Alam, Raihanul Wazed Chowdhury, Rahila Gulshan and Sajjad Kamrul Hossain.
Unopposed Jamaat-backed candidates are vice-president Alamgir Mohammad Yunus, assistant secretary Fazlul Bari, information and technology secretary Abdul Jabbar and executive members Shahed Hossain, Helal Uddin, Robaitul Karim and Mohammad Morshed.
According to sources, BNP-backed Jatiyatabadi Ainjibi Forum and Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami-backed Bangladesh Lawyers Council jointly announced a joint panel named Lawyers Unity Council in this year's Chittagong District Bar Association election.
On the other hand, the Awami League-backed panel Sammilita Ainjibi Samannaya Parishad was renamed as 'Rashid-Jabed-Mahtab Parishad' as an independent candidate. But none of them could buy nomination forms in the face of various obstacles.
Earlier on February 10, the election date of the Chittagong District Bar Association was announced. But on February 4, six days before the election, five members of the Election Commission suddenly resigned. The tenure of the elected committee of the association expired on February 10.
On February 16, an ad hoc committee of five members was formed at the general meeting of the association. The next day, on February 17, the responsibility was handed over to the new ad hoc committee. According to the provisions of the Chittagong District Bar Association, there is an obligation to hold the election within 60 days.
On March 18, an ad hoc committee formed the Election Commission on the occasion of the election. According to the schedule, April 10 was the last day to collect nomination papers from the library of the association. The nomination papers were withdrawn on April 11 and the list of valid candidates was published and the election was supposed to be held on April 16. But 21 BNP-Jamaat-backed candidates are going to win uncontested as there is no opponent.
Advocate Md Abdur Rashid Lokman, an independent candidate for the president, told The Daily Observer, We went to buy nomination forms from the library of the association twice. But we could not take the forms in the face of obstruction from BNP and Jamaat lawyers and outsiders.
He also said that there are about 8500 lawyers in the Chittagong District Bar Association. A large number of them were eager to vote. But that's not going to happen anymore. We have given a written complaint to the ad hoc committee. But they did not take any action.
When contacted, Advocate Tariq Ahmed, Chief Election Officer of Chittagong District Bar Association, disconnected the phone saying he was busy.
AH/HK
