Awami Panthira Lawyers has retained the leadership of the Dhaka Lawyers Association, an organization of lower court lawyers. They won 21 out of 23 posts, including president-general secretary. After two days of voting, Abdur Rahman Hawladar was elected president, and Md. Anwar Shahadat Shaon was elected general secretary.
Although a non-political professional organization, the panels have always received political recognition in the elections of the Dhaka Lawyers’ Association. The panel nominated by Bangabandhu Awami Lawyer Parishad, an organization of pro-Awami League lawyers, is known as the ‘White Panel’, and the panel of the BNP-Jamaat-backed Nationalist Lawyers’ Union is known as the ‘Blue Panel’.
The Executive Committee of the Dhaka Lawyers Association has 13 official posts, including President and General Secretary. Membership is $10. In total, there are 23 posts. The white panel won all the official positions, including president-general secretary. Blue Panel has won two out of 10 member posts.
After verification, the Election Commission declared the nominations of the candidates valid on February 8. Later, both organizations announced a 23-member panel with the nominated candidates on February 10.
Apart from this, two independent candidates were elected for the posts of president and social welfare.
The voting was held on February 28 and 29. The first day runs from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. There was an hour-long break at noon. On the second day, the polling started at 9 a.m., but the polling was suspended for two hours due to the commotion of the lawyers of the white and blue panels.
The pro-Awami lawyers started a ruckus by accusing fake ballots at around noon during the polling. Later, BNP supporters accused Awami supporters of stealing ballots. The Election Commission postponed the polling as the situation became complicated due to counter-complaints.
Later, the election management committees sat in discussion with the former president-general secretary of the association and senior lawyers. After the discussion, polling started at 3:30 p.m. and continued until 6 p.m. 10 commissioners, led by Chief Election Commissioner Advocate Mokhlesur Rahman Badal, were in charge of this election.
He told Chief Election Commissioner Mokhlesur Rahman Badal Kal Kantha, ‘Something or the other happens during the polls. This time was no exception. I postponed the polling for two hours when an unusual situation arose on the second day of polling. Later, the vote was held again. Out of 21 thousand 208 voters, 9 thousand 690 have voted in two days. As such, the vote was 45.84 percent.
He said, ‘Votes have been counted in the presence of all parties. No one has any complaints. Former leaders of the association and senior lawyers were also there. All parties accepted the results. The white panel won 21 seats. In blue panel 2.’
Other winners from the white panel are: Abul Kalam Mohammad Akhtar Hossain (Senior Vice President), Md. Abu Taib (Vice President), Md. Omar Farooq (Finance Secretary), Md. Masrat Ali Tuhin (Senior Joint General Secretary), Asaduzzaman Babu (Joint General Secretary), Humayun Kabir Sabuj (Library Secretary), Monira Begum Moni (Cultural Secretary), Sarwar Jahan (Office Secretary), Md. Wakilur Rahman (Sports Editor), Pradeep Chandra Sarkar (Social Welfare Editor), and Syeda Farida Yasmin Jessie (Information and Communication Editor).
In addition, the winners of the white panel in eight of the 10 member positions of the executive committee are Hafiz Al Mamun, Shaheen Ahmed Rupam, Md. Imran Hasan, Kazi Humayun Kabir, Emdadul Haque Emdad, Mahmudul Hasan, Sumon Ahmed, and Md. Abdur Rahman Mia. The Nationalist Lawyers Unity ‘Blue Panel’ for the remaining two executive posts. Anwar Hossain Chand and Gazi Tanzil Ahmed were the winners.
