The first-ever executive committee election for the statutory Grameenphone Employees’ Union (GPEU) has been postponed for another three months. This decision was communicated in a letter from a senior director of Grameenphone to the head of the GPEU election board. Prior to this letter, on December 6, the election board chairman, Muhammad Nur-e-Alam, had already issued a temporary suspension of the election upon the advice of the Ministry of Labor. The suspension was endorsed by the other two board members, Anamika Zaman and member secretary Md. Robiul Hasan.
The earlier suspension cited objections raised by Grameenphone management regarding the election process. Subsequently, the issue was taken to the Supreme Court, where the High Court Division, led by Justices Fahmida Kader and Mubina Asaf, issued an order on December 3 to further delay the election for three months.
Expressing dissatisfaction with this development, Omar Faruq, the founding president of the Grameenphone Employees’ Union, stated, “Since yesterday, we have been staging silent protests. Today, we continued, and we are now consulting legal experts.”
Notably, voting was scheduled to take place on December 9 across ten polling stations nationwide, with 36 candidates participating in the election. This biannual election, which features 39 candidates campaigning for 17 positions, was expected to see enthusiastic voter turnout. However, the abrupt suspension led to symbolic protests outside the GP House in Bashundhara for two consecutive afternoons.
Led by Omar Faruq, Grameenphone Employees’ Union members, including around 50 terminated employees, staged a three-hour protest with black cloths over their faces and banners condemning the suspension of the election.
