Photo : Courtesy
The election of the Executive Committee for the period 2024-2026 of the Internet Service Providers Association of Bangladesh (ISPAB), has been scheduled on March 16 during Ramadan, the holy month of fasting for Muslims. The candidates as well as the voters have started making perfect calculations about the next EC election. A total of 25 candidates have been nominated in this committee of 13 members.
However, the use of mobile phones in the polling booth has become a major issue. To make the voting fair and impartial, a written request was made by the voters to the polling stations and DTOs to ban mobile phones in the polling booths. Given this, the Election Management Committee is taking a strict stand to influence the vote and keep the privacy of the voters intact.
Birendranath Adhikari, director of Excel Technologies Ltd., and Abdullah H. Kafi, lifetime chairman of ASOCIO and managing director of JAN Associates Ltd., are managing this work with Nazrul Islam Babu, the chairman of the committee.
Md. Abdur Razzak, President of Bangladesh Engineering Industry Owners Association Hafez Haroon, owner of Samia Trading and Director of FBCCI, and Md. Abul Khair, owner of National PV Pipe Products, are serving as the chairman of the Election Appeal Board.
asked about the decision to ban mobile phones in polling booths, ISPAB election board member Abdullah H Kafi said that no one can take mobile phones inside the booth. No one will be exempted in this regard. It will be strictly enforced.
But not only the Election Commission but also the Election should not be questioned. Aminul Hakim, the former president of ISPAB has called all 25 candidates to come forward to ensure that. He said that candidates should also adhere to the code of conduct besides refraining from taking mobile phones to the polling booths to prevent voter secrecy, voter safety and prevent rumors. We want this election to be full of festivities and competitive after two years.
Syed Almas Kabir, the former president of BCS and former advisory director of FBCCI, who was in charge of the commission in various elections of the trade body regarding the use of mobile phones in the polling booths, thinks that it is not right to take mobile phones in the booths. It affects the voting process. Voter privacy and ballot secrecy are at risk. Such an opportunity hurts the electorate.
For this reason, he suggested depositing the voter’s phone through ‘token’ management in centers like FBCCI elections and then make rules for entering the booth.
Earlier, in a letter to the Election Commission, the candidates filed a written application on February 28 and 29 asking for the installation of archways and metal detectors in the polling stations and a ban on entering the booths with mobile phones.
Associate members are ahead in the ISPAB executive committee vote in two categories. 11 candidates against 4 posts allotted for them. 756 voters will exercise their voting rights to choose the eligible candidates from among them. And 14 candidates have been nominated against 9 posts in the general category in central roles. In this case, there are 250 voters.
According to the ISPAB website, the organization has 399 ordinary and 1604 associate members. Voting will continue from 10 am to 5 pm at the Bangabandhu International Convention Center on March 16. At the end of voting, 9 people from the general category and 4 people from the associate category, a total of 13 people will be declared elected. Later, on March 18 (Sunday), these 13 elected people will select the posts of the Executive Council (EC) from among them.
Candidates for 9 posts in general category are – Saiful Islam Siddique of ICC Communication Limited; Moin Uddin Ahmed of Red Data (Pvt.) Limited; Sabbir Ahmed of Xord Online; Md Zobair Al Mahmud Hossain of Banglanet Technologies Ltd.; Ashraf Uddin of Dhaka Tech IT Limited; Optimax Communication’s Md. Imdadul Haque; Nazmul Karim Bhuiyan of KS Network; Md. Anwarul Azim of Chittagong Telecom Service; SM Zakir Hossain of Unified Core; AM Kamal Uddin Ahmed Salim of BCL Online Services; Sakif Ahmed of Infolink; Mohammad A Qayyum Rashed of Triangle Services; Md. Asaduzzaman of Antaranga.com and Mahbub Alam of Circle Network.
The candidates for associates are – Freedom Online’s Md. Arman Hossain; Digital Communication’s Mohammad Alamgir Hossain; Md. Zubair Islam of M.S Zubair IT Expert; Masood Rana Jiban of Unique Net; Raisul Islam Tuhin of Tuhin Enterprise; The Winner IT’s Md. Ahid Ullah Swapan; Dipankar Barua Shimul of Green Broadband Network Service; MD of Speed Tech Online Md. Nasir Uddin; Sun Online’s Mohammad Anwar Hossain; Fisa Communication’s Fuad Muhammad Sharfuddin and The T Network’s Md. Mahamudul Hassan.
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