Dhaka: Before going to Bangabhaban, the search committee sat in a meeting for finalising a list of 10 people to propose those to President Abdul Hamid for appointing new chief election commissioner (CEC) and four commissioners.

All the six members of the committee, led by Supreme Court’s Appellate Division judge Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain, joined the meeting that began at the Supreme Court Judges’ Lounge around 4:00pm, reports UNB.

This is the fourth and the last meeting of the search panel.

The search committee is scheduled to meet President Abdul Hamid at the Bangabhaban at 6:30pm after preparing the list of 10 names at their meeting.

On January 25 last, the President formed the search committee, headed by Supreme Court’s Appellate Division Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain, to propose prospective names of CEC and other commissioners by February 8 as the tenure of the current EC expires next week.

The search panel talked to 16 noted citizens and took their opinions about the reconstitution of the EC.

The search committee on Tuesday prepared a shortlist with 20 people’s names from 125 names submitted by 25 political parties to form the next EC.

On Thursday last, the search body at a meeting further reviewed the 20 shortlisted names, but could not finalise the 10 names.

The search panel will propose 10 names to the President, and Abdul Hamid will appoint no more than five persons to the EC from the names to be proposed by the search committee.