Dhaka, Aug 10, 2025 (BSS) - Professor Dr. Harun Al Rashid and Assistant Professor Dr. Md. Zahirul Islam (Shakil) have been elected President and Secretary General, respectively, in the election of the pro-BNP professional organization of registered MBBS and BDS doctors in Bangladesh, Doctors Association of Bangladesh (DAB).

The full panel of Harun-Shakil parishad was elected in the polls. 
 
Dr Harun was elected as president with 1369 votes while his opponent Professor Dr. A.K.M. Azizul Haque received 1202 votes while Dr. Shakil was elected as Secretary General with 1458 votes. His closest rival was Dr. Abdus Shakur Khan with secured 1079 votes.
 
The new leadership of this professional organization was elected through direct voting by voters on Saturday. The voting was held from 1pm to 5pm at Will's Little Flower School and College in the capital's Kakrail area.

A total of 3117 voters were enlisted in the DAB election and 2600 of them exercised their voting rights.
 
Bijon Kanti Sarkar, adviser to the BNP chairperson, served as the Chief Election Commissioner in the DAB election. 
 
He announced the official results of the election after 12:30 am yesterday. At this time, other members of the Election Commission and the rival candidates of both panels, as well as leaders of various levels of DAB, were present.
 
There are five posts in the DAB election. The posts are - President, Senior Vice President, Secretary General, Treasurer and Senior Joint Secretary General.
 
Two panels were announced on the occasion of the election. 

In the Harun-Shakil panel, Professor Dr. Harun Al Rashid contested for the post of President, Dr. Zahirul Islam Shakil for the post of Secretary General, Dr. Abul Kenan for the post of Senior Vice President, Dr. Md. Mehedi Hasan for the post of Treasurer and Dr. AKM Khalequzzaman Dipu for the post of Senior Joint Secretary General. This panel won all the posts.
 
On the other hand, in the panel of Aziz-Shakur, Professor Dr. AKM Azizul Haque contested for the post of President, Dr. Abdus Shakur Khan for the post of Secretary General, Dr. Saif Uddin Nisar Ahmed Tushar for the post of Senior Vice President, Dr. Towhid Ul Islam Jan for the post of Treasurer and Dr. Abu Md. Ahsan Firoz for the post of Senior Joint Secretary General.
 
Of the two panels, Professor Dr. Harun Al Rashid led DAB as President from 2019 to 2025. Dr. Azizul Haque was the President of DAB from 2005 to 2011.

Professor Lutfar Rahman, a member of the DAB Election Commission, said that the voting for the DAB council was completed on Saturday with great enthusiasm. 

It can be said that the election was quite competitive, he said, adding that the respected voters elected their leaders by exercising their voting rights which is a positive thing and very important for democratic politics.
 
After winning the full panel, DAB's newly elected president, Professor Dr. Harun Al Rashid, said, "First of all, I thank Allah Almighty for this. In this election, the voters have elected me with their well-considered opinions. We express our gratitude to the respected doctors for trusting the Harun-Shakil panel."
 
"We want to move forward in the days ahead with everyone's cooperation," he also said.

Earlier, BNP Acting Chairman Tarique Rahman spoke as the chief guest at the DAB council session virtually from London. BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir also spoke.