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Sammilita Parishad, a panel of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) registered members, started taking preparation for the trade body's next election with formally announcing its panel leader, sources said.
Faruque Hassan, managing director of Giant Group, has formally announced the leader of the panel. He is also a former vice president of the trade body, they added.
The announcement was made at a view-exchange meeting held Saturday night at Giant Business Tower in the city.
Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi, also the former president of BGMEA from Sammilita Parishad, was present at the meeting.
BGMEA former presidents Kutubuddin Ahmed, Mostafa Golam Quddus, Shafiul Islam Mohiuddin, and Abdus Salam Murshedy, among others, were present in the meeting while its former presidents Atiqul Islam and Md Siddiqur Rahman took part in it virtually.
More than 300 BGMEA members attended the meeting, meeting sources said.
Talking to the FE, few members said many members of Sammilita Parishad have expressed dissatisfaction over the mutual understanding and compromising process of leader selection for last two terms.
The meeting was informed that BGMEA's next leadership will be chosen through election, a member said quoting the commerce minister.
When asked, Shahidullah Azim, a former BGMEA leader, said leadership for the US$34 billion export earning sector should be chosen through a proper election process.
If a leader is chosen through election, he or she will be responsible and liable to the members, he said terming the Saturday night's meeting as 'warm-up' for next election preparation.
The next election is scheduled to be held at the end of March or early April, according to Mr Azim.
Sammilita Parishad and Forum, another BGMEA panel, traditionally compete for the BGMEA leadership though Sammilita Parishad and Forum jointly formed Sammilita Forum after the last election held in 2013.
The election is usually scheduled after every two years. However, it was not held in 2015 since both Sammilita Parishad and Forum panels jointly decided to elect the board.
Later on September 22, 2015, Md Siddiqur Rahman became the BGMEA president and served as head of the apparel apex trade body for three years and seven months after getting extension three times from the government.
There was consensus between the two panels to reverse leaderships for two terms.
Swadhinata Parishad, another new platform, was formed in 2018.
In April last year, Rubana Huq, managing director of Mohammadi Group, was elected president from Forum to lead the association for the 2019-2021 terms.
BGMEA, having around 4500 members, is being run by a 35-member board of directors, including seven vice-presidents.