Sylhet, Oct 04 (V7N) – The Golapganj Press Club election was held on Saturday after nearly two decades, with several elected office-bearers described by local sources as having affiliations with the BNP or Jamaat-e-Islami.
Voting was held from 11am to 1pm, with 84 voters participating in the election for 17 posts. Earlier, 47 nomination papers had been submitted for the posts, according to election-related reports.
Enamul Haque Enam was elected president with 41 votes, defeating Mahfuz Ahmed Chowdhury, who received 31 votes, according to the election results provided by local sources.
Azizur Rahman Khan was elected senior vice-president with 51 votes, while Zahurul Islam received 23 votes.
Badrul Alam won the vice-president post with 50 votes against Abdul Khalek’s 33.
Mahbubur Rahman Chowdhury was elected general secretary with 44 votes, defeating Imran Ahmed, who received 39 votes.
Abdul Aziz Babar won the joint general secretary post with 33 votes, while Sakib Al Mamun received 31 votes.
Anwar Humayun was elected treasurer with 46 votes against Delwar Hossain Mahmood’s 37.
Md Tamim Ahmed won the sports secretary post with 40 votes, while Fahad Hossain was elected cultural secretary with 44 votes.
Fahim Ahmed won the publicity secretary post with 34 votes, Shakel Uddin the publication secretary post with 41, and Oliur Rahman Tamim the office secretary post with 37.
Samil Hossain was elected information and technology secretary with 47 votes, while Salman Kader Dipu won the training secretary post with 36 votes.
Four candidates were elected executive members: Mohammad Jaber Ahmed with 46 votes, Babar Zowardar with 45, Mahdi Rahman with 38 and M Abdul Jalil with 37.
The election had attracted significant attention because it was the first election of the press club after a gap of nearly 20 years. Pre-election reports said the contest involved four candidates for president and candidates for 17 posts.
Local reports and the election source described several successful candidates as being associated with BNP or Jamaat-e-Islami. However, claims about the political affiliations of individual journalists and allegations that the election process was influenced by political groups could not be independently verified from the sources reviewed.
The election also drew attention because of the composition of the 84-member electorate. The user-provided source alleged that many voters had political affiliations and that relatively few were full-time journalists. These claims were not independently verified.
The user-provided source also alleged that a late-night meeting involving election officials and political leaders took place before voting and characterised the election as being influenced by political interests. No independent evidence confirming those allegations was found in the sources reviewed.
Earlier reports described the election as the first poll after efforts to bring journalists in Golapganj under a unified organisational structure. Candidates had campaigned among members and presented plans focused on professional development, journalists’ rights and strengthening the press club.
END/AKR/SMA/
