EC search panel cuts list down to 50
The search committee, tasked with recommending 10 names to the president to form the next Election Commission, shortened the proposed list of 322 to some 50 people.
The committee is yet to decide whether it will publish the final 10 names to be recommended before sending them to President Abdul Hamid, sources in the committee said.
They added that whittling down the 50 names to 10 is a Herculean task as the proposed persons should be neutral, courageous and capable enough to hold a free and fair election.
The search committee held a marathon meeting yesterday to review the names proposed by political parties, professional bodies and individuals.
The committee will hold its next meeting on Saturday at 11:30am at the Supreme Court Judges Lounge to finalise the names, Md Shamsul Arefin, secretary (Coordination and Reforms) of Cabinet Division, told journalists after yesterday's meeting.
He declined to say anything further.
"We have shortened the list from 322 to some 50. We are hopeful of shortening it further in the next meeting and submitting the names to the president by the stipulated time," a member of the search committee told The Daily Star, wishing not to be named.
The Cabinet Division, which is giving secretariat support to the committee, received 322 names and placed those before the committee to shorten the list.
After the formation of the six-member search committee on February 5, it held its first meeting on the following day and asked political parties, professional bodies and individuals to submit their nominations for chief election commissioner and four election commissioners.
The committee also held discussions with eminent citizens, media personalities and election experts in four rounds and following their recommendations, all proposed names were published on the Cabinet Division's website. But it was not disclosed who proposed each name.
The citizens also suggested that the final list to be sent to the president be made public beforehand so that people could express their views about the nominees.
According to the law, the search committee will propose two names for each post and the president will pick five names from those.
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