Staff Reporter :The ruling Awami League-backed Sammilito Ainjibi Samannoy Parishad swept the Bangladesh Bar Council election 2015 which was held on Wednesday. According to unofficial results, the Sammilito Ainjibi Samannoy Parishad (SASP) secured 10 out of the 14 seats, leaving the rest for the Jatiyatabadi Ainjibi Oikya Panel (JAOP). The Election Commission will officially announce the results on Monday, Nazmul Ahsan, Assistant Director of the Bar Council said on Friday. The unofficially winning 10 candidates from the SASP are M Amir ul-Islam, Abdul Baset Mazumder, Abdul Matin Khasru, ZI Khan Panna, Nazibullah Hiru, HR Zahid Anwar, Ibrahim Hossain Chowdhury Babul, Parvez Alom Khan, Md Yahia and Md Rezaul Karim Mantu. Those who won from the BNP-backed panel are: Khandkar Mahbub Hossain, AJ Mohammad Ali, AM Mahbub Uddin Khokon and Kayemul Hoque.Former Vice-Chairman of the Bar Council and former SCBA President Barrister M Amir ul Islam led the SASP panel, while incumbent Vice-Chairman and SCBA President Advocate Khandkar Mahbub Hossain led the JAOP.The election of the Bangladesh Bar Council, the licensing and regulatory body for the lawyers, was held on Wednesday across the country. The voting started at 10:00 am at 77 polling centres and continued till 5:00 pm. Attorney General Mahbubey Alam was the Chief Election Commissioner.The newly elected 14-member executive body will elect the Vice-Chairman of the Bar Council in their first meeting. M Amir ul-Islam and Abdul Baset Mazumder are taken to be the hot-favourites for the post. The Attorney General is the Chairman of the Council.Two other contesting panels are Ainjibi Oikya Front led by Subrata Chowdhury and Ainjibi Oikya Parishad led by Md Eunus Ali Akond. There were also independent candidates.A total of 43,302 voters cast their votes while at least 61 candidates – 32 for general posts and 29 for group posts – contested in the polls. Of them, the 14 elected members will take the office for the next three years.Meanwhile, Law Minister Anisul Huq has described the result as a victory for justice. “Lawyers’ right choice of establishing the rule of law and discipline has been reflected in the election result,” he said while greeting the members of the SASP.Thanking the SASP members for their relentless efforts in the campaign, he called upon the newly elected members to work with sincerity for the greater interest of the lawyer community so that the rule of law and discipline are restored in the Bar Council.
