DHAKA, March 9, 2024 (BSS) - The voting of the biennial election of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) ended peacefully at 5pm today.

The election began at 10am and ended at 5am in Dhaka and Chattogram with a one-hour recess, said Jahangir Alamin, chairman of the board of the BGMEA election for 2024-26 tenure.

Some 2,235 voters casted their votes in both the polling centers in Dhaka and Chattogram out of the total voters of 2,494. Out of those, some 1,848 out of 2,032 votes were casted at the Dhaka centre while at the Chattogram polling centre, some 387 out of 462 votes were casted.

It may take two to three hours to finish the electronic counting of the votes, said Alamin.

He said the voting was peaceful and no untoward incident took place during the election.

Two panels -- Sammilito Parishad and Forum -- contested in the elections. SM Mannan is the panel leader of the Sammilito Parishad and Faisal Samad is the panel leader of the Forum.

A total of 70 candidates vied for 35 director posts under the two panels.
Of the 35 directors, 26 will be picked up from Dhaka while nine will be elected from Chattogram region.

On 4 December last year, the BGMEA board of directors formed a three-member election board headed by Jahangir Alamin, former president of the Bangladesh Textile Mills Association (BTMA).

It also formed a three-member election appellate board, headed by Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI) President Kamran T Rahman.

The voters in Dhaka r6egion casted their ballots in booths installed at BGMEA Uttara office, while the voters in Chattogram region casted votes at the trade body's regional office in the port city.