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FBCCI polls held amid great enthusiasm

By Staff Correspondent
The first-ever direct elections of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) were held antid great enthusiasm at the federation office in the city yesterday.
* Out of 840 eligible voters 817 cast their ballots to elect a president, a vice president and 30 Executive Committee(EC) members —.15 each from the Association and Chamber groups. They will have a two-year tenure.
There are 132 associations and 55 chambers affiliated to the FBCCI. the apex institution of the country's trade ' bodies.
Polling began at 10 in the morning and continued till 4:30 in the afternoon with an "hour's break for lunch.
Counting of votes, which • 6^4 pm. was eonrinq-
ing at the time of filing this report at 02:30 arti last night. According to eleftion board officials entrusted with conduct ing the polls, the final count of results for all the posts was likely to stagger until early this morning, perhaps seven or eight am.
According to the results of 426 Association ballots for the 15 EC posts out of the 5§8 cast. Mohammad Alt of the panel headed by presidential candidate BNP MP Redwan Ahmed had polled 215 votes. He was followed by fellow panel candidate AFM Fakhrul Islam Munshi. a former deputy minister under Ershad.'with .209 vbtes.
Independent Panel candidate Yusuf Abdullah Harun of the Bangladesh Vegetable Oil Refiners' Association had polled 204 votes .to be in third place.
Taher Sobhan. Niaz Rahim. Md. Amin Lasker. Abul Hossain and Fazlur Rahman — all from the panel headed by presidential candidate Salman F. Rahman of Beximco — fol lowed-with 167. 165. 162 138 and 137 votes respectively.
Zafar Ahmed Chowdhury of Mirza Abu Mansoor's panel had 132 votes.
Abdul Hoq of Redwan Ahmed s panel had 121 votes He was followed, in close contention. by panel colleagues Md Yunus, A. Gafur. Gapt Shamsul Haq and Shatiullah Chowdhury. Khorshed All Mollah of the Independent Panel, which fielded only eight candidates, was also in the running, as were MA Kamal and Karim Chowdhury
The elections were held with unprecedented enthusl asm despite earlier uncertainty over reports that a city court had issued a temporary injunction on Saturday
All 840 of the eligible voters were earlier provided with identity cards- and their signatures were cross-checked when the voters entered the building. The candidates were given special name cards pitmed to hetr chests.
Fourteen ballot boxes were set up In separate booths on the third floor of the Federation Bhaban In Motljheel. A huge colourful canopy was erected on one side of the busy thoroughfare In front of the building for the voters, candidates and their supporters, the presidential candidates also set up separate pavilions on either side of the road for their supporters, which often created traffic jams tn the country's main commercial district.
A steady stream of voters started coming since morning The whole area bore a festive look with posters and banners ol the candidates projected and pasted all around. The • nearby parking lots were packed above capacity with Pajerps and other latest model expensive sedans as cellular telephone-toting candidates and their supporters were seen making last-minute campaign pitches outside. The country’s rich and the mighty were all there.
Voters were encircled by campaigners trying to hand over campaign materials as they entered the multi-storied Federation Bhaban to cast their ballots.
Voter turnout was very high as 817 out of a total 840 voters । ast their ballots — 597 out of 614 for the Association group and 219 out of 226 voters for the Chamber group.
Enthusiasm among the voters was also high because for the first time in 21 years they got an opportunity to elect the office-bearers under a direct voting system.
"It is good that the proxy voting system has been abolished. because in the past the candidates didn't even bother to approach the voters to get elected." said Gulnar Zaman, one of the few women voters, of the Bangladesh Dress Makers Association. "Now that we have our voting rights we can select the right candidates io lead the federation '
Voters from various district chamber bodies also felt that the direct voting system gives them a greater voice and hoped that now the federation s leaders would also work lor ' heir interests as well.
Moaharraf Hossain Akhand, a voter from the Jhalakathi Chamber of Commerce, said that earlier voters from the mufassll chambers were usually neglected but this.Ume around they can at least vote for the candidates of their choice.
We want the federation to solve our problems but they have failed us In the- past because they remained busy with big tfWngs. But now since they have to seek our votes, hopefully they will work to uphold our Interests also." he added
A record 82 candidates contested the polls for the 32 executive posts. Including a president, a vice-president and 30 executive committee members. They will have a two-year term of office.
Under a rotating system the posts of president and vice-president are held alternatively by the Association group and the Chamber group. This year the post of president goes to the Association group as the outgoing president Mahbubur Rahman was elected from the Chamber group.
Seven candidates vied for i he presidency. They were: Salman F Rahman of the Oushad Shilpa Samity. Redwan Ahmed. MP of the Garments Manufacturers and Exporters' Association. Mirza Abu Mansur of the Hardware and Machinery Merchants Association. M A Kashem of the Jute Spinners' Association. Kazi Shaflqul Islam, the outgoing vice-president. Nurul Islam of the Cold Storage Association and F I Mohsin Bulbul of the Contractors Association.
Three of the presidential candidates also fielded 15-member panels for the EC posts.
There were four vice presidential candidates: Khandaker Rashiduzzaman Dudu of the Kushtla Chamber, M Lutfur Rahman Khan of the Madaripur Chamber. Mohammad Aii Sarker of the Rajshahi Chamber and Abdul Latif Siddiqui of i he Tangail Chamber.
The Council of Chamber Presidents backed a 16-mem-Iwr panel with Rashiduzzaman Dudu as Its vice presidential candidate. The panel Includes the presidents of the Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Dhaka Chamber, the Sylhet Chamber, the Narayanganj Chamber and the vice-president of the Chittagong Chamber.
All candidates campaigned hard during the past month or so. Full-fledged campaigns were- launched replete with projection meetings-cum-din-ners in posh city hotels, advertising campaigns in the national newspapers and even door-door calls on individual voters. One presidential candidate even employed the services of a publicity firm for his campaign. Some candidates also made lavish arrangements for food and accommodation for the out-of-town voters.