Voting in the two-day election of the Executive Committee for the 2026-27 term of the Dhaka Bar Association, the country’s largest bar, has been completed. In the election, 34 percent of the total voters exercised their voting right, while 66 percent abstained from voting.
Following the conclusion of voting on Thursday (April 30), Chief Election Commissioner of the Dhaka Bar Association election and adviser to the BNP Chairperson, Advocate Md. Borhan Uddin, told The Bangladesh Post that 2,759 lawyers cast their votes on the first day, while 4,310 lawyers voted on the second day.
He further said that a total of 7,069 lawyers exercised their voting rights over the two days out of 20,785 registered voters.
Advocate Borhan Uddin stated that no untoward incident occurred during the election and that the voting atmosphere remained festive. Additional booths were set up and security measures were strengthened to ensure smooth voting.
Regarding the results, the Chief Election Commissioner said vote counting will begin after Juma prayers on Friday. Ballots will be serially arranged before counting starts, and the results may be announced either Friday night or Saturday morning.
Voting took place at the Dhaka Bar Association building from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm on Wednesday and Thursday. Lawyers turned up to vote despite rainfall on both days.
According to Election Commission sources, voting was held for 23 posts, including President and General Secretary. Lawyers supported by the BNP and Gono Odhikar Parishad contested under the Bangladesh Jatiyatabadi Ainjibi Oikya Panel (Blue Panel), while lawyers backed by Jamaat-e-Islami and the National Citizen Party (NCP) contested under the Lawyers’ Unity Council (Green Panel).
Apart from 46 candidates from the two panels, eight independent candidates also contested for different positions.
The Awami League-backed White Panel, whose political activities are currently banned, did not participate in the election. However, several Awami League-aligned lawyers alleged to the media that they faced obstacles while attempting to collect nomination papers as independent candidates.
From the BNP-led Blue Panel, Md. Anwar Zahid Bhuiyan is contesting for the post of President, while Mohammad Abul Kalam Khan is running for General Secretary. On the other hand, from the Jamaat-NCP supported 11-party Green Panel, SM Kamal Uddin is contesting for President and Md. Abu Bakkar Siddiq for General Secretary.
Previously, the last election was held on February 28 and 29, 2024 during the Awami League government, where Awami League-backed lawyers were elected to 21 posts, including President and General Secretary.
However, after the fall of the Awami League government on August 5, 2024, the elected members of the Dhaka Bar Association reportedly stopped attending court proceedings, causing the association’s activities to nearly come to a halt. In this situation, an ad hoc committee was formed on August 13 of the same year by BNP and Jamaat-aligned lawyers, who have since been carrying out the association’s responsibilities.
