DSE polls today

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FE Report
Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), the country's premier bourse, goes to election today (Sunday) with high hopes of choosing neutral and acceptable leaders for the capital market.
"The elected directors should play a neutral role for the interest of the stock market. That's why the election must be fair and square," AB Mirza Azizul Islam, former finance advisor to the caretaker government, told the FE.
"A negative impact will haunt the bourse if the new body tries to manipulate the market," said Mr Islam, also a former Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) chairman.
Abu Ahmed, professor of Economics at University of Dhaka, said an acceptable leadership should be elected through transparent election.
Eight candidates - Rakibur Rahman, the incumbent president of the DSE, Abdul Haq, Ahmed Iqbal Hasan, Ghulam Quader, Dastagir Mohammad Adil, Khaja Ghulam Rasul, Sharif Ataur Rahman and Ahmad Rashid Lali - are competing for four posts of directors.
A total of 228 voters will franchise their rights on the DSE building premises from 10am to 3:30pm without any break.
The Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the DSE will be held on March 27 when the new board of directors takes office.
As per the DSE constitution, the election has to be held every year before the AGM. There are 12 elected and 12 nominated directors in the board. Every year, four directors retire and four others replace them through direct voting for a three-year term.
A president, senior vice-president and vice-president are elected from the 12 elected directors including the new four.
The DSE had recently brought amendment to its constitution, paving the way for a retiring director to qualify for re-election. So, there is no bar for the retiring directors to participate in the election.