Osman re-elected BKMEA president uncontested

AKM Salim Osman, president of Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA), has again been elected to the top post of the trade body unopposed.

"There was no opposition in the election of the BKMEA this time. So, the election commission announced the 35-member panel of Salim Osman elected on Sunday," said Mohammad Hatem, first vice president of BKMEA. This is the sixth consecutive time Osman has been made chief of the knitters' platform, four of which were unopposed.

The last time a contest took place in the BKMEA election was in 2012 when Md Fazlul Haque, managing director of Narayanganj-based Plummy Fashions Ltd, also ran for presidency. Osman, a member of the parliament, also won in the election of 2010.

This time, the election was scheduled to be held both in its Dhaka and Narayanganj offices on November 30, said Hatem, for whom a new post has been created in the BKMEA organogram for the first time.

Hatem is now an executive president. The new post was created in recognition of the hard work Hatem put in for the BKMEA for a long time with Osman.

In fact, Hatem has been running the BKMEA behind the scenes while Osman held on to the ceremonial post of president.

"The elected board of directors declared Salim Osman as the president and me as the executive president along with seven other vice-presidents," Hatem told The Daily Star over the phone.

Osman and the new office bearers briefed journalists at its Dhaka office yesterday while a press release was also issued.