SCBA election: BNP-backed Blue Panel secures landslide victory

The BNP-backed Jatiyatabadi Ainjibi Panel, popularly known as the Blue Panel, won 13 of the 14 posts in the election to the Supreme Court Bar Association, one of the country’s leading lawyers’ bodies, including the posts of president and secretary.

The remaining executive member post was won by Azim Uddin Patwari of the Lawyers’ Unity Panel, or Green Panel, backed by Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami.

According to the announced results, AM Mahbub Uddin Khokon of the Blue Panel was elected president with 2,984 votes, defeating Abdul Baten of the Green Panel, who secured 788 votes.

Mahbub Uddin Khokon was elected president of the SCBA for the second time.

Mohammad Ali of the Blue Panel was elected secretary with 2,582 votes, while his rival AKM Rezaul Karim Khondaker of the Green Panel received 786 votes.

Voting took place on May 13 and 14 from 10:00am to 5:00pm, with a one-hour break.

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Vote counting began around 10:00pm after polling ended. Senior lawyer and retired High Court judge Md Miftah Uddin Choudhury, convener of the election management subcommittee, announced the results at around 2:00am on Friday at the SCBA auditorium following the completion of counting.

The election is held annually for the association’s 14-member executive committee, comprising one president, two vice-presidents, one secretary, one treasurer, two assistant secretaries, and seven executive members.

From the Blue Panel, Md Magfur Rahman Sheikh and Md Shahjahan were elected vice-presidents, while Md Ziaur Rahman won the post of treasurer. Md Maksud Ullah and Mohammad Shamsul Islam Mukul were elected assistant secretaries.

Of the seven executive member posts, six were won by Blue Panel candidates -- HM Shanjid Siddique, AKM Azad Hossain, Wahid Afroz Chowdhury, Md Kabir Hossain, Md Zia Uddin Mia, and Md Tipu Sultan. The remaining post went to Azim Uddin Patwari of the Jamaat-backed Green Panel.

A total of 40 candidates contested for the 14 posts in this year’s election. Of the 11,097 registered voters, 4,048 cast their ballots.

Although the association’s election is officially considered non-partisan, panels are traditionally formed by lawyers aligned with political parties. In previous years, contests were mainly held between BNP-backed lawyers, known as the Blue Panel, and Awami League-backed lawyers, known as the White Panel.

However, at a special general meeting of the association held on April 26, members decided that Awami League-backed lawyers would not be allowed to participate in the election following the ban on the party’s political activities.

For the first time in the association’s history, Awami League-backed lawyers, known as the White Panel, did not contest the election.

Candidates from the BNP-backed Jatiyatabadi Ainjibi Panel, the Jamaat-backed Lawyers’ Unity Panel, and the National Lawyers’ Alliance, or Red-Green Panel, backed by the National Citizen Party, took part in the polls.

The Blue and Green panels fielded candidates for all 14 posts, while the Red-Green Panel fielded candidates for six posts. Several independent candidates also contested the election.