The Chattogram District Bar Association election was held on Thursday amidst a backdrop of intense political friction and a formal boycott by a major faction of lawyers.
While voting took place within the association building’s auditorium from 9am, the surrounding court premises became a site of protest rallies and significant unrest.
The Oikkoboddho Ainjibi Parishad – a group of Jamaat-e-Islami-leaning lawyers – led the boycott, staging a demonstration at the Sonali Bank premises around 12:30pm.
The group’s chief coordinator, Shamsul Alam, labelled the proceedings a “rigged election” and claimed that a large section of the association’s 5,000 general voters had joined their protest.
This stance followed their earlier declaration that the Election Commission was “illegal” due to the cancellation of nine of their candidates’ nominations and delays in publishing the candidate list.
Inside the venue, Chief Election Commissioner Advocate Roushan Ara Begum maintained that the polling environment was peaceful.
However, the lack of competition underscored the political divide; no rival candidates stood for nine of the 21 available positions, leaving only 12 posts to be contested by two candidates each.
The chaos leading up to the election day included a rejected requisition meeting to announce a new schedule and a court’s refusal to stay the election.
On Wednesday, the situation escalated further as seven Jamaat-supported lawyers resigned from the outgoing committee, and 12 candidates officially withdrew from the polls.
Additionally, pro-Awami League lawyers had previously held their own protest march against the “unilateral” nature of the vote and alleged they were obstructed from collecting nomination forms after the association’s library gate was locked.
The voting concluded at 4pm the same day, bringing an end to a highly contentious electoral process that has deeply divided the legal community in Chattogram.
