Swadhinata Parishad, the newly-floated panel in the BGMEA election, yesterday threatened legal action for the decision to extend the tenure of the current executive board by another year.The extension is not legal because it was done after the announcement of the election schedule, said Md Jahangir Alam, convener of the Swadhinata Parishad.“If necessary, we will go for legal remedy in the court so that the BGMEA is bound to hold election, and not resort to illegal time extension or selection of any particular body for BGMEA executive body,” he said at a press conference held at the capital’s La Vinci Hotel.As per the schedule, the election was supposed to be held on March 7, but the commerce ministry abruptly extended the tenure of the current board of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association by another year using three excuses.The reasons for the extension were: implementation of the new wage board for garment workers, demolition of the BGMEA building and the general election, Alam said. “The extension was not needed for those causes.” The extension was also not made following the rules: the current board needed to call an extraordinary general meeting, which was also not done.“We have already served a letter to the commerce ministry expressing our demand for cancellation of the extension of the current board.”The BGMEA members go to poll to elect the executive board for a two-year term. The tenure of the past two executive boards was extended by six months for extraordinary circumstances: the Rana Plaza collapse and the issue of demolition of the BGMEA headquarters in Dhaka.
