The election of the President of Bangladesh ICT Journalists Forum (BIJF) was held in the presence of the highest number of voters. Nazneen Nahar Begum was elected the first woman president of BIJF in the second round of voting after a draw in the first round.
The election polling was held on Friday from 10 am to 4 pm at the conference center of Software Park Vision 2021 in Karwan Bazar of the capital. 53 votes were counted out of 54 voters. 2 votes were cancelled. Out of the 51 valid votes, the other candidate Hasan Jakir, Senior Sub Editor of the Daily Samakal and section head of the ICT page, got 22 votes. In contrast, monthly Tech World Editor Naznin Nahar won getting 29 votes.
Abdullah H. Kafi, former chairman of the Asian-Oceanian Computing Industry Organization- ASOCIO, served as the chief election commissioner in the election. The Daily Prothom Alo’s Head of New Initiatives Pallab Mohaimen and English Daily Messenger’s Consulting Editor ARM Mahmud Hossain were members and the Daily Sarabangla‘s News Editor Sumon Islam and Doctors BD.com Editor Ariful Hasan Apu served as the members of the appeal board.
In the evening after the counting of votes, the Chief Election Commissioner announced the names of the full Executive Committee of BIJF for the term 2022-24 as follows: Nazneen Nahar, Editor of the Monthly Tech World, President; Bhuiyan Inam Lenin, Editor of the Monthly Computer Bichitra, Vice-President; Sabbin Hasan, Contributing Editor, Barta24.com, General Secretary; Sazedur Rahman, Senior Reporter, Dainik Natun Somoy, Joint General Secretary; The Dhaka Post.com Feature Editor Ariful Islam Arman, Organizing Secretary; Biztech24.com Special Crosspndence Saiful Islam Shanto, Treasurer; The Dhaka Mail.com Feature Editor Asaduzzaman, Publication and Research Editor and The Daily Digital Somoy Managing Editor Enamul Karim and DigiBanglatech.news Executive Editor S. M Imdadul Haque was announced as an executive member.
Earlier, on September 23, the polls were held for four posts. In that vote, Nazneen Nahar Begum (Tech World) and Md. Zakir Hasan (Samakal) got an equal number of 25 votes. As a result, the election commission of BIJF announced the names of the winning candidates except for the post of President.
Abdullah H Kafi, Chairman of the Election Management Board, after receiving and counting the votes of the President in the second round, said, “The resilience I have seen in the elections in the space of a week is my greatest achievement. Today’s vote is unique. Still, I was overwhelmed by the turnout for this presidential election. It shows how deep your love for this organization is. But whoever wins or not, I congratulate both. This year’s executive committee shows that ‘dot com’ has won.”
In his speech, the other election commissioner Pallab Mohaimen said that the historic dot means not the end of this election. Let the new journey begin from here. I came into historical experience while conducting this election. First and second time voting. Still the highest percentage of votes. BIJF got the first woman president and got the highest number of votes in this election.
Hasan Jakir said, you have chosen one because brother and sister stood in the election. But I didn’t feel defeated. I think BIJF has won. We got an office when I started the march from General Secretary under the leadership of Dheu Bhai; I fixed the documents. Still, if anyone thinks I need it; I will definitely come forward. I hope BIJF will move forward with everyone.
The winning president Nazneen Nahar said, “I am grateful to all those who trusted us and voted. And the newly elected committee will not do anything trivial. Zakir will work with us. I am saying with responsibility, we will all work together. A new day will begin. It’s a new journey. I don’t know if I can create any history. But I will try to meet the responsibility vested on me. I will try, at least to make the forum works actively. Zakir will work with us on this forum.