Nearly 90 per cent voters cast their vote for electing board of directors in the biennial election of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) 2023-25 on Monday.
A total of 1,746 voters, or 89.35 per cent out of 1,954 voters cast their votes in the election of mere formality, according to concerned official.
The election to select the new board of directors for the next two years commenced at 9:30 am at the Bangabandhu International Conference Center in Agargaon city. The voting process continued uninterrupted until 4:30 pm.
According to A Matin Chowdhury, the chairman of the FBCCI Election Board, the election started at 9:30 am with a notably low voter presence in the morning.
However, after 11:30 am, a significant number of voters arrived, and there was a considerable turnout after lunch. The voting process continued without interruption until 4:30 pm.
Mr Chowdhury also said there was no major allegation in the election.
An official from communication department of FBCCI told FE that results of the vote were scheduled to announce in the midnight of Monday.
"The final counting will not be completed before 12 am tonight (Monday night)," he said.
Two prospective president candidates of the apex trade body-Mahbubul Alam, the representative of the Chittagong Chamber of Commerce and Industry, is contesting from the panel named Bebosayee Oikko Parishad and Mir Nizam Uddin Ahmed, a representative of the Bangladesh Electrical Association, is contesting from a panel named Sammilito Baboshayee Parishad.
Out of the total of 34 nominated directors, 23 have already been elected unopposed. As a result, the voting was held for only 23 director positions, making the election more of a formality than a contested event.
Some 49 candidates competed for these 23 posts. Among them, 46 candidates are affiliated with the "Bebosayee Oikya Parishad" and the "Sammilito Bebosayee Parishad" (23 from each panel), while the remaining three candidates are running independently.
Among 46 director posts, 23 director candidates of the Chamber group of Bebosayee OikkoParishad and there will be no election in this group as there is no other panel against them.
Elections for the posts of FBCCI president, senior vice president and six vice-presidents are scheduled to be held on August 2 by the elected directors.
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