Sylhet, Jan 17 — Lawyers aligned with the Bangladesh Awami League secured a sweeping victory in the annual election of the Sylhet District Bar Association, winning the president and general secretary posts along with a majority of executive positions.
The results of the 2025 election were announced early Friday morning by Chief Election Commissioner Advocate Syed Mohammad Tarek following the completion of vote counting.
Voting took place on Thursday from 10:00am to 4:30pm. Of the association’s 1,850 registered voters, 1,460 lawyers cast their ballots. A total of 65 candidates contested for 26 posts.
In the presidential race, Sarwar Ahmed Chowdhury Abdal—president of Ward No. 15 unit of the Awami League in Sylhet city—won with 770 votes. Jobaer Bakht Zuber, former law affairs secretary of the district unit of Bangladesh Chhatra League, was elected general secretary with 330 votes.
Among other positions, Jyotirmoy Purkayastha (Kanchan), backed by the Awami League, was elected Vice President-1, while BNP-backed Mokhlishur Rahman secured the Vice President-2 post. Advocate Ahidur Rahman Chowdhury, aligned with the Awami League, won the Joint Secretary-1 position, and BNP-backed Advocate Rob Newaz Rana was elected Joint Secretary-2.
Mohammad Mizanur Rahman, backed by the BNP, won the Social Affairs Secretary post, while Advocate Syed Rabbi Hasan Tarek of the Awami League was elected Assistant Social Affairs Secretary. Hena Begum, supported by the Awami League, won the Library Secretary post.
Other elected officials include Saiful Alam as Chief Election Commissioner, Abdullah Al Helal and Kawsar Zubayer as Assistant Election Commissioners, and Emad Uddin Mohammad Emdad, Sahed Ahmed, and Kawsar Ahmed as assistant secretaries.
The 11 members elected to the executive committee are Gias Uddin, ASM Abdul Gafur, Fakhrul Islam, Jamilul Haque Jamil, Abdul Malik, Kalyan Chowdhury, Ashik Uddin (Ashuk), Zuber Ahmed Khan, Abu Md Asad, Alim Uddin, and Saiful Hossain.
Several general members of the bar association said internal rifts between BNP and Jamaat-backed candidates contributed to their failure to secure key posts, allowing Awami League-aligned lawyers to capitalize on the division.
