Omar Hazzaz, son of a local ruling party lawmaker, has been chosen as the president of the Chittagong Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI) by its 24 directors who had won uncontested.

This was for the fifth consecutive time the port city's trade body got leaders with no votes being cast.

The 2023-2025 period's new president, Hazzaz, is proprietor of Reliance International. His father MA Latif is also a former CCCI president.

His younger brother, Omar Muktadir, is one of the 24 directors as well.

Tarafder Md Ruhul Amin, director of Saif Powertech Ltd, and Raisa Mahbub, proprietor of Raisa Enterprise, were made senior vice-president and vice-president, respectively.

Raisa is the daughter of the outgoing CCCI president Mahbubul Alam, who is the newly elected president of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry.

The three presidium members were elected unanimously in the first meeting of the newly elected directors at the World Trade Centre yesterday as there were no other contestants, said a CCCI press release.

Earlier on Sunday, the last day for filing nomination papers, the 24 directors were elected unopposed as they were the only ones to have tendered the required papers, it said.

The new office bearers will take charge on October 1 when the tenure of the incumbent board expires.

Mahfuzul Hoque Shah, one of the new directors, said the election was scheduled for September 5 but no election was needed as there were no additional contestants for director posts.

Mohammed Sazzadun Newaz, son of Md Nurun Newaz, a former senior vice-president of the CCCI and chairman of the CCCI election board, has been elected as one of the directors.

The last time votes were cast in the biennial election of the chamber was in 2013 when lawmaker MA Latif-backed Mahbubul Alam-Nurun Newaj Parishad won 20 director posts.

Alam was elected president for the first time in that term. He subsequently led the chamber five consecutive times after rules were amended in 2017 to allow an individual to contest for the top post even after serving three consecutive terms.