After years of legal wrangling and repeated postponements, the long-delayed biennial election of the century-old Chittagong Chamber of Commerce and Industry is finally scheduled for 23 May.
The election board announced the date today (18 May) in a notice signed by Monowara Begum, director (local government) at the Chattogram divisional commissioner’s office and chairperson of the board.
Confirming the development, Chamber Joint Secretary Nurul Absar Chowdhury said voting will take place as per the previously announced schedule.
Polling will be held from 9am to 4pm at the World Trade Centre in Agrabad, where members will elect 18 directors from the ordinary and associate categories.
The chamber last held a competitive election on 30 March 2013.
Since then, it has mostly been run by government-appointed administrators without elected leadership.
Following the political transition after the fall of the Awami League government on 5 August 2024, the chamber went through several administrative changes.
Muhammad Anwar Pasha, then additional divisional commissioner (general), took charge as administrator on 9 September 2024.
After his tenure ended, Mohammad Nurullah Noori was appointed administrator through an order signed on 8 September 2025 by Chowdhury Samia Yasmin, deputy secretary of the Trade Organisation-1 branch.
Later, Md Motaher Hossain assumed the role from 20 January this year until completion of the election process.
As a result, the chamber has remained under administrative control for more than 20 months.
The election was postponed five times following multiple lawsuits, counter-lawsuits and High Court directives, fuelling frustration among businesspeople since the election schedule was declared in September last year.
Most recently, on 22 April this year, the arbitration tribunal of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry cancelled the chamber’s election schedule and ordered preparation of a fresh timetable.
The tribunal bench, comprising Chairperson Nasrin Begum and members ASM Kamal Uddin and Sayed Ahmed, issued the directive while disposing of arbitration cases numbered 11, 12 and 13 of 2025.
Despite the latest announcement, stakeholders say uncertainty surrounding the election has not fully eased due to ongoing court cases, proposed amendments to the chamber’s constitution and disputes over voter list updates.
Several individuals repeatedly surfaced in the legal disputes over the election process, including garment accessories supplier Muhammad Belal Hossain, who sought to contest from the trade group category, former chamber senior vice-president SM Nurul Haque, and panel member Azizul Haque.
After the chamber election board rejected Belal Hossain’s application, legal battles began in the High Court and arbitration tribunal in September 2025.
Belal’s brother, Mohammad Ayub, is also contesting the election.
The petitioners in the cases include associate member SM Nurul Haque, ordinary member Muhammad Belal and Muhammad Azizul Haque.
According to tribunal documents, Belal Hossain identified himself as a general member of the chamber and proprietor of Herbis Converting Limited. However, during hearings, he also claimed representation as general secretary of the Chittagong Garment Accessories Group.
The tribunal rejected his application on the grounds that the same individual cannot represent two different membership categories simultaneously.
Leaders of several business organisations, including the Bangladesh Shipping Agents Association, Berth Operators Association and Ship Handling Operators and Terminal Operators Owners Association, welcomed the announcement of the election date.
Under the chamber’s articles of association, 12 directors from the ordinary group and six from the associate group are elected directly through voting. Another six directors – three each from town associations and trade groups – are selected unopposed through consensus.
The president, senior vice-president and vice-president are later elected by the 24-member board.
The chamber currently has 6,780 members, including 4,001 general members, 2,764 associate members, five town association members and 10 trade group members.
Two panels are contesting this year’s election – the United Business Forum led by former FBCCI director Amirul Haque and the Somomona Parishad led by former chamber senior vice-president SM Nurul Haque.
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