BASIS Race Narrows to Two Presidents
- Three of four initial presidential candidates have been disqualified.
- Only two candidates remain valid for BASIS president.
- 23 valid candidates remain for the election, with one international seat vacant.
The race for president of the Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services (BASIS) has narrowed sharply after the Election Board disqualified three of the four candidates initially listed for the top post. The latest valid and invalid candidate lists published on Wednesday show that 23 candidates now remain against the initially announced 26, while only two candidates are left in the presidential race.
On Wednesday, September 2, 2026, the Election Board published separate lists of valid and invalid candidates today. The invalid list includes presidential candidates Rafel Kabir and Mustafa Rafiqul Islam, along with Director (General) candidate Arefeen Raafi Ahmed.
The four candidates initially listed for president were Rafel Kabir of DNS Software Ltd., Mustafa Rafiqul Islam of Flora Telecom Limited, Iqbal Ahmed Fakhrul Hasan of Divine IT Limited and AKM Ashraf Uddin of Decent Act International.
Following the latest scrutiny, Iqbal Ahmed Fakhrul Hasan and AKM Ashraf Uddin are the only valid presidential candidates. Iqbal Ahmed Fakhrul Hasan is Managing Director of Divine IT Limited, while AKM Ashraf Uddin is Proprietor of Decent Act International.
Valid candidates across posts
For Senior Vice President, the valid candidates are Saiful Islam Siddique of ICC Teleservices Limited, Noor Mahmud Khan of Right Brain Solution Ltd. and Anisul Haq Bhunya of Tech Terrain IT Limited.
For Vice President (Admin), the candidates are Hasnain Md. Reyad of Smart Lab and Md. Musnad E Ahmed of SkyTech Solutions.
The Vice President (Finance) race includes Tania Sultana of Synergy Interface Ltd., Taufiqul Karim Suhrid of Fingertips Innovations Limited and Tanjil Abedin of Trends Bird Limited.
Nine candidates remain valid for Director (General): Md Jewel of Trust IT Ltd.; Sumch Mohammad Tarek of Bdtask Limited; Apel Mahmud Khan of BZM Graphics Limited; Md. Abdur Razzaque Rupom of OS CLICKS; Delwar Alam of BugsBD Limited; Abdullah Al Mamun of Primex Information Systems Limited; Ferdosh Alam of Atova Technology; Md Rashedul Islam of E-Medical Software Limited; and Md Fuad Hasan of Red Sparrow Limited.
The initial list had 10 candidates for Director (General), but Arefeen Raafi Ahmed has been disqualified.
For Director (Associate), the valid candidates are Syed Shofiul Alam of Be Data Solutions Limited, Md Jubayer Riyel of Sysmatrix Technologies Ltd. and Ahmed Armaan Siddiqui of Grameen Healthtech Limited.
Sumaya Islam of Creato Design Research Lab Ltd. is the sole valid candidate for Director (Affiliate).
International seat remains vacant
The published valid candidates’ list contains no candidate under the International category, leaving one of the 11 positions without a candidate.
BASIS has more than 2,882 members overall, while only five members reportedly belong to the International category. The need to retain a separate seat for such a small membership base has therefore emerged as a point of discussion among stakeholders.
Election set for September 26
Under the revised schedule, the BASIS Executive Council election for the 2026–2028 term will be held on September 26, 2026. Nomination papers were collected and submitted from August 14 to 20 at Rooms 123 and 126 of Building 3 of the Ministry of Commerce at Bangladesh Secretariat.
The Election Board is chaired by Tania Islam, Deputy Secretary (Export-1) of the Ministry of Commerce. Its members are Nasrin Sultana, Deputy Secretary (Export-2), and Mohammad Jakir Hossain, Deputy Secretary (Export-3).
Earlier, the third preparatory meeting was held at the BASIS conference room on March 14 under the chairmanship of BASIS Administrator Abul Khayer Mohammad Hafizullah Khan. The meeting discussed preparations including the memorandum update, membership audit, voter list, budget and administrative approvals.
The term of the BASIS administrator expired on July 6. The organization has since been operating amid an uncertain administrative situation. A Ministry of Commerce team visited the BASIS office on July 27, while candidates were required to collect and submit nomination papers from the ministry for the current election.
Clearance remains a condition
The Election Board’s valid candidates’ list states that the list remains subject to Credit Information Bureau (CIB) reports, National Board of Revenue (NBR) clearance and police clearance. If any adverse remarks are found in a candidate’s CIB report, NBR clearance or police clearance, the candidature may be cancelled without prior notice.
Therefore, although the September 2 list establishes the current pool of valid candidates, further changes remain possible if adverse information emerges during the clearance process.
//DBTech/SME/MIST//
