BANGLADESH

The search committee, formed to propose new Election Commission members to the president, has received names and is working to make a short list.

The committee met at the office of the Appellate Division judge, Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain, who heads the committee. The deadline set by the committee to receive suggestions from political parties ended Tuesday afternoon.

"We have received quite a number of suggestions and will finish making a shortlist within a day or two," comptroller and auditor general Ahmed Ataul Hakim, also a member of the committee, told journalists after the meeting.

The committee will suggest two names against each post of chief election commissioner and election commissioners to president Zillur Rahman who will form the new electoral commission according to the constitution.

The tenure of the incumbent commission led by A T M Shamsul Huda will end in the middle of February.

The president formed the search committee, following a series of dialogues with apolitical parties having representation in parliament, to reconstitute the commission.

Though main opposition BNP took part in the dialogue, it demanded restoration of the caretaker government system, which was scrapped on June 30 last year through the 15 amendment to the constitution, before reconstitution of the commission.

The High Court's Justice Md Nuruzzman and Public Service Commission chairman A T Ahmedul Hauqe Chowdhury, are the other two members of the search committee.