The Ministry of Commerce has cancelled the scheduled election of Sylhet Chamber of Commerce (SCCI) and Industry and appointed businessman Ejaz Ahmed Chowdhury as administrator, keeping the organisation under administrative control for the second time after its election process was halted.
A chamber member, speaking to TIMES of Bangladesh on condition of anonymity, said Ejaz is not a BNP office-bearer but a supporter of the party and a business partner of Sylhet metropolitan BNP President Nasim Hossain. The member also expressed concern over the repeated delays in the election process.
The chamber said in a statement on Sunday that the ministry cancelled the board election through an order dated 24 September and appointed Ejaz as administrator in another order issued the same day.
The election was scheduled for 5 November, with 21 candidates submitting nomination papers, according to sources. However, the process was cancelled on the final day of nomination submission.
This is the second time Sylhet Chamber’s election process has been cancelled. The organisation has been operating without an elected leadership since the fall of the Sheikh Hasina government.
According to the chamber’s statement, the new administrator will include members, update the membership list and arrange a fresh election through a new schedule and voter list to ensure a fair and participatory poll.
Chamber sources said the organisation’s crisis deepened after the political changeover on 5 August 2024, when the then president went into hiding, creating a leadership vacuum. Later, after the top leadership resigned following demands from members, an administrator was appointed to keep the organisation running.
The chamber’s previous election was scheduled for 1 November last year, but the Ministry of Commerce suspended it through a letter on 26 October, five days before voting. Since then, the organisation has operated under an administrator without an elected leadership.
The revised schedule for the biennial election-2026 was announced on 17 August this year. The preliminary voter list was published on 13 September, the final list on 20 September, and nomination papers were collected and submitted between 20 and 27 September. Voting was scheduled for 5 November.
Former chamber vice-president Falah Uddin Ali Ahmed criticised the repeated suspension and cancellation of the election process, saying it had created dissatisfaction among businesspeople.
“Many members are even saying they will not renew their memberships out of frustration,” he said, adding that businesspeople were not informed of the specific reason behind the cancellation. Candidates had spent money and time collecting and submitting nomination papers, while the decision was announced on the final day of nomination submission.
“Where businesspeople are not developing trust in government officials, how impartial can a civilian administrator be in carrying out the responsibility?” Falah Uddin told TIMES.
He said nearly 20,000 businesspeople are associated with the chamber and their only demand is to establish elected leadership through voting rights. “Repeated suspension or cancellation of elections is keeping businesspeople away from exercising that right,” he added.
After taking charge on Sunday, administrator Ejaz Ahmed Chowdhury held a meeting with businesspeople to discuss the next election. The meeting focused on holding a free, fair and neutral election and preparing an acceptable voter list.
Addressing the meeting, Ejaz said Sylhet Chamber of Commerce and Industry is the leading organisation of businesspeople in Sylhet, but it has become inactive and ineffective in recent years due to the absence of proper leadership.
“Without the overall cooperation of all businesspeople, it will not be possible to hold the next election properly,” he said, seeking cooperation from chamber leaders and members to arrange a free, fair and neutral election.
