BNP to react to 'frustrating' new EC a day after its formation

The BNP, apparently frustrated over the new Election Commission, has taken a day to react to the development.

Senior Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 6 Feb 2017, 10:25 PM
Updated : 6 Feb 2017, 10:25 PM

President Md Abdul Hamid named former KM Nurul Huda the new chief election commissioner on Monday.

Huda's name was not much speculated ahead of the announcements following recommendations by a search committee.

The BNP was also dissatisfied with the search committee appointments, but hoped the president will form an impartial and acceptable EC.

Its top policymaking body, National Standing Committee, met at Chairperson Khaleda Zia's Gulshan offices around 9:30pm, half an hour after the announcement. 

Standing Committee members Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain, Moudud Ahmed, Jamiruddin Sircar, Mahbubur Rahman, Gayeshwar Chandra Roy, Abdul Moyeen Khan and Nazrul Islam Khan were present along with Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir.

No one of them spoke to the media after the meeting chaired by Khaleda.

Quoting Mirza Fakhrul, Shairul Kabir Khan, a member of Khaleda's press wing, told bdnews24.com: "An emergency meeting of the BNP-led 20-Party Alliance has been called. It will be held at Gulshan at 8pm on Tuesday. The secretary general will give the official reaction to the new EC after the meeting."

The BNP took part in the president's talks on forming the new EC and proposed names to the search committee later.

It has one of its choices - former additional commissioner writer Mahbub Talukder - in the new EC.

Another of the names it proposed – Prof Tofail Ahmed – was on the search committee’s shortlist of 10 but the president struck him off.

New CEC Huda, a Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (JaSoD) pick, was kept an officer on special duty (OSD) for a long time during the BNP-Jamaat-e-Islami tenure.