The nomination papers of all candidates fielded by the Sachetan Prokousholi Samaj panel for the 2026 election of the Institution of Engineers, Bangladesh (IEB) have been rejected, according to a list published following scrutiny of the nominations.
The election for the 2027–2028 term of the IEB is scheduled to be held on 12 November 2026. The panel, described by its leaders as representing forces supportive of the Liberation War, is being led by engineer Sade Uddin Ahmed Sohel and engineer Kazi Khairul Bashar.
The decision was disclosed in a list published on 17 September by the election commission formed to conduct the IEB election. According to the panel’s leaders, the commission was constituted by what they describe as an unauthorised and unelected committee that has been running the institution in violation of its constitution. The claim, however, has not been independently verified, and the election commission’s response was not immediately available.
According to the scrutiny list, the nomination of engineer Sade Uddin Ahmed Sohel, who was contesting for the post of president, was rejected. The nomination of engineer Kazi Khairul Bashar for honorary general secretary was also rejected.
Nominations for the vice-president posts submitted by Habib Ahmed Halim Murad, engineer Sheikh Munir Ahmed, engineer Abdul Alim and engineer Mesbahuzzaman Chandan were likewise rejected.
The panel said nominations submitted by its other candidates were also rejected, including those contesting for honorary assistant general secretary. They named engineer Moniruzzaman, engineer Monir Uddin, engineer Wahidul Islam and engineer Naim Ahmed among those whose nominations had been rejected.
The panel’s leaders have strongly criticised the decision. They said the election of a long-established professional organisation such as the IEB should be conducted through a transparent, neutral and participatory process that is acceptable to its members.
They alleged that one faction had effectively controlled the IEB for more than two years and claimed that the current electoral process was part of an attempt to arrange what they described as a “farce of an election”. These allegations have been made by the panel and were not accompanied by an immediate response from the election commission.
The Sachetan Prokousholi Samaj panel also raised questions about the voter list prepared for the election. Its leaders alleged that engineers who did not meet the criteria for membership under the IEB constitution had been included in the electoral roll. They argued that the composition of the voter list could influence participation in the election and called for the eligibility of listed voters to be examined.
The panel further alleged that several engineers faced harassment, threats and transfers that they considered punitive or intended to discourage them from submitting nomination papers. According to the panel, despite these alleged obstacles, its candidates submitted their nomination papers in accordance with the prescribed rules with the intention of participating in the election.
The leaders claimed that the subsequent rejection of all nominations from their panel was made without valid, reasonable or constitutionally specified grounds. They have not, however, publicly provided the election commission’s stated reasons for each rejection, while the commission’s position on the allegations remained unavailable at the time of reporting.
The IEB election is significant for its members because the organisation represents engineers as a major professional community in Bangladesh. The election process therefore involves questions of membership eligibility, voter registration, nomination scrutiny and compliance with the institution’s governing rules.
Following the rejection of the nominations, the panel’s leaders announced that they would appeal against the decision. They said the appeal process provides an opportunity for the election authorities to reconsider the scrutiny outcome and expressed hope that their candidates would ultimately be allowed to contest.
The exact grounds on which the nominations were rejected, as well as the election commission’s response to the allegations raised by the panel, were not immediately known.
