Deadline nears but no clear path yet for BCB polls
On July 14, the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) president Aminul Islam Bulbul expressed optimism of holding the upcoming election on time during the opening ceremony of the 39th National Badminton Championship in Paltan.
This was the first time Aminul openly talked about the election since becoming president on May 30, replacing his former national teammate Faruque Ahmed.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel. Youth and sports advisor Asif Mahmud had expressed similar sentiment on June 27, when he stated that they are working on the process of amending the BCB constitution and affirmed that for the time being there is no reason to delay the BCB elections, scheduled to be held by October.
From an administrative point of view, the BCB has been in a flux for the last year or so, with three presidents being in charge from July last year and July this year.
This instability has raised questions about how well the board is being run at the moment and the best hope at fixing this issue is getting a new elected body in charge through fresh polls.
Although BCB's current committee is set to expire in less than three months, there have been no significant developments regarding the election.
Many current BCB directors, officials and aspiring councillors and candidates of the upcoming election are in dark about the election, still waiting to know exactly when the polls will be held and will it be held under the current constitution or an amended one.
What's on BCB constitution
According to the BCB's constitution article 15.1, the term of the executive committee shall be four years from the date of its first meeting. As the previous BCB election took place on October 6, 2021, and the first board meeting was held on the very next day, as per the constitution, the current committee has to conduct the election by October 7.
Meanwhile, 30 days prior to the election, the BCB's chief executive officer, under the direction of the president, must notify the concerned parties for the nomination of councillors to form the next general assembly in accordance with sections 9.1, 9.2, and 9.3 of the constitution.
According to section 19 and chapter 5, the election commission formed by the executive committee will formulate all election rules, announce the schedule, finalise the voter list, and complete all formalities required to conduct the election.
Although there have been speculations over BCB forming an ad-hoc committee for the election, there is no scope to do so as per the current BCB constitution.
What ICC says
According to article 2.4 of ICC's Memorandum of Association, each member nation must ensure its statutes provide a process for free and democratic elections and appointments from amongst its members or nominees from outside its members, for its executive body.
The office-holders have to be determined through a free and democratic elections in accordance with the process set out in its statutes and the body has to function autonomously and without any government interference.
What's really going on
The Daily Star approached several current councillors and aspiring candidates recently to learn about their plans regarding the upcoming election.Most expressed confusion over BCB's stance on the polls and some even feared a delay.
Debabrata Paul, a councillor from Jahangirnagar University, expects the BCB would begin its election-related activities by the end of August or the start of September but feared the polls might just be an "eyewash".
"Observing their current activities, I fear that they will hold a one-sided election and it will be nothing but a complete eyewash," said Debabrata, who recently sent a letter to the BCB president demanding constitution reform, a corruption free BCB and good governance.
Rafiqul Islam Babu, a prominent local club organiser, claimed that the BCB can defer the election only if an unavoidable issue comes to the fore.
"If the election is deferred due to the political situation in the country or for under some extraordinary circumstances, the ICC may or may not accept it," said Rafiqul, who claimed that the organisers like him are preparing for the polls.
Sirajuddin Mohammad Alamgir, another prominent local organiser and councillor from Chattogram University, urged amending the BCB constitution before holding the election.
"I think if you hold the election without amending the constitution, the election will not carry any value. Few faces may get replaced and the political inclinations will probably change, but there will be no change in cricket," Alamgir said.
Faruque, the previous BCB president, had formed a constitution reform committee led by BCB director Nazmul Abedeen Fahim but BCB halted its proceedings in the face of protests from Dhaka clubs after few of the envisaged reforms got leaked in the media.
BCB had announced this decision after their 17th board of directors meeting on January 25, and according to a BCB director, the constitution reform committee has remained inactive ever since, which contradicts what youth and sports adviser Asif had told the media a few weeks ago.
The BCB director, seeking anonymity, said, "As per my knowledge, Fahim bhai is fully concentrating on cricket operations now. He is no longer working on that matter."
Most surprisingly, the current directors, who are supposed to play an active role in holding the election, are also in the dark regarding the election date but majority of them are preparing to run in the polls.
"We only know that the election will take place by October. But we aren't seeing any activities regarding it. We don't feel at ease to talk about it too much as it may bring unwelcome consequences," said another BCB director, who also aspires to run for the election again.
When asked about the BCB polls, the National Sports Council (NSC) secretary Aminul Islam insisted that it will be held as per the board's constitution – another vague statement about an election which still seems far from materializing.
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