Former cabinet secretary Ali Imam Majumder and former parliament secretary Kazi Rakib Uddin Ahmed have been recommended by the Search Committee for appointment as chief election commissioner.
The committee, formed to suggest names for the new Election Commission, also proposed eight names for the posts of four election commissioners, Cabinet Secretary M Musharraf Hossain Bhuiyan told journalists at the Bangabhaban around 7:00pm yesterday.
Earlier, the four-member committee headed by Supreme Court judge Syed Mahmud Hossain placed the recommendations to President Zillur Rahman following its last meeting at the Supreme Court in the evening.
The ruling Awami League had proposed appointing outgoing chief election commissioner (CEC) ATM Shamsul Huda for a second term, party sources said.
The party's Joint Secretary General Mahbubul Alam Hanif told The Daily Star last night that the committee's list did not include any of the five names his party had proposed. Even so, the AL would accept the new election commission to be formed by the president.
From the names suggested, the president will pick one as the new CEC and up to four as election commissioners and send those names to the Cabinet Division for gazette notification in a day or two, sources have said.
The sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, added that Rakib Uddin, also a former official of the Civil Service of Pakistan (CSP), is likely to be appointed the new CEC.
Asked when the CEC and other election commissioners would be appointed, the cabinet secretary, who was also the spokesperson for the Search Committee, declined to comment. But he added that it was for the president to decide the matter.
ATM Shamsul Huda and Sohul Hussain retired as CEC and election commissioner on February 6, while Brig Gen (retd) M Sakhawat Hossain, the other election commissioner, retires on February 14.
The names of the proposed election commissioners are former additional secretary Mohammad Abu Hafiz, former joint secretary Mohammad Abdul Mobarak, former inspector general of police Mohammad Hadis Uddin, Brig Gen (retd) Mohammad Jabed Ali, former Supreme Court registrar Mohammad Fazlul Karim, former district judge Mohammad Shahnewaz, Sharmin Sonia Murshid, chief executive officer of Brotee, an NGO, and former additional secretary Shah Mohammad Mansurul Haque.
Of them, the names of Abu Hafiz, Abdul Mobarak, Hadis Uddin, Jabed Ali and Sharmin Sonia Murshid were widely being discussed for appointment as election commissioners.
Following his dialogue with the political parties on the formation of the new Election Commission, the president on January 22 constituted the committee to suggest two names for each post.
The committee then sought names from the 24 political parties that had joined the talks.
The ruling Awami League and five other parties sent names to the committee. But the main opposition BNP and the AL's key ally Jatiya Party and 16 other parties did not send any names.
Rejecting the four-member committee, the BNP demanded a restoration of the caretaker government first.
The three other members of the Search Committee were High Court judge Mohammad Nuruzzaman, Public Service Commission Chairman ATM Ahmedul Haque Chowdhury and Comptroller and Auditor General Ahmed Ataul Hakeem.
BACKGROUNDS
Ali Imam Majumder was appointed cabinet secretary on December 6, 2006. He retired on November 28, 2008, during the last caretaker government regime.
Earlier on October 31, 2006, he was made principal secretary to the Prime Minister's Office. Majumder, who comes from Comilla, was promoted to secretary on February 15 the previous year.
Rakib Uddin Ahmed was parliament secretary in the previous BNP-Jamaat coalition government till 2003. Prior to that, he was education secretary in 2000. Earlier, he served as secretary of information and primary and mass education in the last AL government.
Also a freedom fighter, he was a zonal coordinating officer of the freedom fighters who took shelter in Agartala, India, during the 1971 Liberation War.
After the war, Ahmed served as deputy commissioner of Comilla and later became director general of the NGO Affairs Bureau.