The search committee mandated to pick candidates for the chief and other election commissioners has trimmed the list of possible nominees down to 12 from 20.
Justice Obaidul Hassan, an Appellate Division judge and head of the committee, said they could not finalise 10 names in Sunday’s meeting, but came close.
“We're searching for the 10 candidates among the 12 to 13 names. I hope we'll get 10 names,” he said.
He added they will finalise the 10 names in their last meeting on Tuesday before submitting the list to President Md Abdul Hamid, reports bdnews24.com.
The president will then form the next Election Commission by appointing the chief and four election commissioners.
Justice Hassan said the committee has until Feb 27 to submit the names.
“We're working with transparency and in line with the law,” he said.
The committee on Saturday prepared a preliminary list of 20 after evaluating the credentials of more than 300 proposed candidates during a meeting at the Supreme Court Judges' Lounge.
The other members of the panel are Justice SM Kuddus Zaman, Comptroller and Auditor General Mohammad Muslim Chowdhury, Bangladesh Public Service Commission Chairman Sohorab Hossain, former election commissioner Mohammed Sohul Hussain and fiction writer Anwara Syed Haq.
Over the last two weeks, the panel has met several times and sat with eminent citizens.
It had received as many as 322 names proposed by political parties, groups of professionals, eminent citizens and individuals for the next EC.
The list mostly comprises professors, judges, former secretaries and former army officers.
The recently enacted law on the formation of the EC requires the committee to propose a list of 10 nominees to the president, with two candidates for each of the five positions, including that of the chief election commissioner.
The committee has 15 working days from its formation to submit the names to the president, who will then form the 13th Election Commission by picking candidates from the list.
The committee, under a duty to carry out its responsibilities impartially and transparently, will nominate people according to the requisite qualifications, prohibitions, experience, skills and reputation, as stated by the law.
