Mob, led by FORUM Panel, made ‘hostile takeover attempt’ of current board, alleges BGMEA

The FORUM Panel of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) today (7 August) made an alleged ‘hostile takeover attempt’ of the current board, the trade body said in a press statement.

“At around 2:30pm, an attempt of a hostile takeover of the current BGMEA board was made by a group of members from the FORUM Panel and unidentified individuals during the most vulnerable period of the country when the economy was going through a massive reformation with unstable law and order, reads the press statement.

“This horrific event has further tarnished the international credibility of the largest foreign currency earners of the country,” it added.

The current BGMEA board said the incident took place when the board members were already addressing the current difficulties and structuring a roadmap.

“Preparators were seen to engage in violent behaviour including toppling the security gate, getting into fist fights and unlawfully demanding the takeover of the current board,” it claimed.

‘No confidence’ in current leadership

The BGMEA press statement comes hours after a group of apparel exporters expressed their “no confidence” in the current BGMEA leadership amidst the ongoing crisis.

They expressed the ‘no confidence’  this afternoon in a memorandum submitted to the BGMEA Acting President Khandoker Rafiqul Islam, said former BGMEA Vice President Faisal Samad, who leads the FORUM panel.

The decision to express the no confidence in the trade body’s leadership was made during an emergency meeting held on Tuesday evening (6 August).

“In the context of change, the garment sector is facing multifaceted challenges. But the initiative of the BGMEA president was not seen to deal with these, because he was in the field with political programmes,” Samad told TBS earlier today.

“This important sector of the economy is not important to him. At the same time, where he is at present, BGMEA members do not know,” he added.

BGMEA sources revealed that the association’s president, SM Mannan Kochi, is currently in Singapore with his son, who was admitted to the hospital about a week ago for treatment.

In his absence, Senior Vice President Khandoker Rafiqul Islam is serving as the acting president of the association.