Hasan Mansur, who was suddenly appointed as an election commissioner last Thursday and who is scheduled to take the oath today, also met the EC secretary during the visit but did not pay any courtesy call on the rest of the officials at the secretariat.

Stunned by the surprise visit, officials of the EC Secretariat termed it unprecedented, since none of the previous election commissioners had visited the EC before taking the oath.

While the newly appointed election commissioner was talking to the EC secretary, the officials of the secretariat were busy communicating with the office of the Supreme Court's registrar to arrange Mansur's oath-taking ceremony.

Mansur arrived at the EC Secretariat at 10:45am and the commission sent a letter to the Supreme Court registrar's office at 11:00am after issuing a circular about his appointment as the fourth election commissioner, sources said.

CEC MA Aziz, who defended Mansur's visit to the EC Secretariat, however said the commission will be strengthened by the appointment of the new election commissioner amid the prevailing volatile political situation over the issue of reforms in the EC and the system of caretaker government.

"Two heads are better than one. Similarly four heads are better than three," CEC MA Aziz, who already won support of the other two election commissioners appointed in January this year, told reporters.

"It depends on the president," the CEC said replying to a query on whether another new election commissioner is about to be appointed.

Asked about Mansur's visit to the EC Secretariat before taking the oath of office, the CEC said, "It was just a courtesy call and it is not irregular."

The newly appointed election commissioner, who left the secretariat premises after spending about two hours there, said, "It is just a casual visit. Nothing significant was discussed during the courtesy call. We only exchanged pleasantries."

Former election commissioner Justice Naimuddin Ahmed said there is nothing wrong with the visit to the EC Secretariat before taking the oath. "After being appointed as an election commissioner, he or she can make courtesy calls, but cannot assume the office before taking the oath," Naimuddin told The Daily Star.

A former adviser to a caretaker government however on condition of anonymity said Mansur should have visited the EC Secretariat after taking the oath. "There may not be any legal problem about the visit, but it does look odd," he told The Daily Star.

After arriving at the secretariat yesterday, Mansur entered the office of EC Secretary Abdur Rashid Sarkar and stayed there for 45 minutes. Election Commissioner SM Zakaria also entered the secretary's room and after a few minutes came out with the newly appointed election commissioner.

Then they entered the office room of the CEC where Election Commissioner Justice Mahfuzur Rahman was talking to the chief.

CEC MA Aziz, and election commissioners -- Justice Mahfuzur, Zakaria and Hasan Mansur -- talked for over half an hour. "It was just a courtesy visit," CEC MA Aziz said.

While leaving the EC Secretariat premises, Mansur declined to comment on the visit. He also refused to comment on the present situation of the EC.

Talking to reporters, the EC secretary said the newly appointed election commissioner was his colleague before. He said the secretariat sent a letter to the Supreme Court's registrar for arranging an oath-taking ceremony that will be conducted by the chief justice.

The newly appointed election commissioner has been giving interviews to private satellite channels since last Friday. On Saturday, in an interview with a private satellite television channel, Mansur said the present EC is able to conduct the next parliamentary election in a free and fair manner.

His remarks apparently ensured that he will support the CEC in lock step with the other two election commissioners, Justice Mahfuzur and Zakaria, who backed MA Aziz on the issue of preparing the controversial fresh voter list.