Hossain has been instructed to conduct a 'fair and neutral' election within 120 days and hand over duties to the elected committee, the commerce ministry said in a recent order.

BGMEA president SM Mannan Kochi reportedly went into hiding after the fall of the Awami League government on August 5 this year. Senior vice president Khandoker Rafiqul Islam, who is also managing director of the Designtex Group, had taken over the president’s responsibilities in Kochi’s absence.

The interim government dissolved the boards of several trade bodies.

The current board's lack of coordination suggests that the organisation's activities are not being conducted properly under the Trade Organisations Act, 2022, domestic media reported the commerce ministry as noting.

A section of BGMEA had alleged that the trade body’s election held in February this year was marred by irregularities and was heavily influenced by the then Sheikh Hasina government. It had also alleged that Kochi had close ties with the deposed prime minister and was involved in carrying out attacks on students during their protest movement in July and August.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)