Following demonstrations by a group of businesspeople calling for their resignation and the staging of free and fair elections, ten directors of the Chittagong Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI) resigned from their positions.
Vice President Raisa Mahbub, a daughter of FBCCI President Mahbubul Alam, is one of the 10 directors. The other directors are Engineer Iftekhar Hosen, Adnanul Islam, Alamgir Parvez, Md. Rezaul Karim Azad, Directors Mahfuzul Hoque Shah, Ahid Siraj Chowdhury Swapan, Akhter Uddin Mahmud, Abu Sufian Chowdhury, and Md. Akter Parvez.
According to CCCI Secretary Md Faruk, with them, a total of 12 directors out of the 24 members of the present board have resigned thus far. Earlier, on 29th August, senior vice president Tarafder Ruhul Amin and director Jahirul Islam Chowdhury Alamgir resigned.
A group of businesspeople calling themselves the Bonchito Bybosayee Forum organised a human chain at least twice this past week, asking that the current directors step down immediately and that a fair election for the chamber be held.
They said that for the past few terms, the chamber body has been established without a fair election.
When Omar Hazzaz, the son of a former local member named MA Latif, was chosen to serve as president last year, the current organization was established.
According to former business executives, the 24-member body was constituted by cronyism and without any elections.
