Anger is mounting among members of the Bangladesh Film Producers-Distributors Association after the long-awaited election was pushed into fresh uncertainty, with several members blaming presidential candidate Ashraf Uddin Ahmed Uzzal for taking the dispute to court.
The election was due on 8 August after a seven-year wait. But a High Court order following Uzzal’s writ petition put the 2026–28 election on hold for two months, triggering accusations of vested interests, power politics and attempts to undermine voting rights.
Uzzal rejected the allegations, saying he did not file the case to stop the election but to challenge the “illegal” reinstatement of two candidates.
Association member Tanvir Hasan accused “litigants and conspirators” of derailing the election. “This has undermined voters’ right to vote and amounts to an attempt to harm the film industry,” he said, while urging producers to remain united and protect the association.
Another member, Russell Ahmed, said personal interests and power politics were damaging the industry’s future and called for effective steps in its interest.
Presidential candidate Khorshed Alam Khosru alleged that Uzzal’s legal move aimed to take away ordinary members’ voting rights and create a route to winning without an election.
“We will not accept any attempt to take away voting rights in a democratic organisation. We will deal with the matter through legal means,” Khosru said.
Uzzal strongly denied the charges. Speaking to TIMES of Bangladesh, he said, “I did not file the case to stop the election. Who am I to stop the election? The High Court would not stop the election simply because I said so. The candidacies of two people were illegally declared valid. I went to court against that. The opposing parties in my case are the election board and its illegal decision.”
“There was a violation of the law. I went to court seeking a remedy. There is nothing beyond that,” he added.
Rejecting claims that he went to court fearing defeat, Uzzal said, “The election has not even taken place yet. So how does the question of winning or losing arise? I am contesting the election to fight.”
He will give a detailed statement at a press conference on Sunday (9 August).
Under Rule 18(4) of the 2025 election rules, anyone who served two consecutive terms on the executive committee or board cannot contest again without a one-term break. The Commerce Ministry had rejected Khosru and Shamsul Alam’s nominations under the rule, but they regained their candidacies after appealing to the election board. Uzzal challenged that decision in the High Court, leading to the two-month suspension.
The association last held an election on 27 July 2019. Legal complications and voter-list disputes kept it under an administrator for seven years.
The 2026–28 election was to elect 21 posts, with 42 candidates from two panels. With the vote now on hold, the leadership crisis has returned to the centre of the industry debate.
