‘Forum’ sweeps BGMEA polls with landslide victory

The Forum alliance has secured a resounding victory in the 2025-27 Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) elections, winning 31 of 35 director posts. 

In Dhaka, Forum claimed 25 of 26 seats, while in Chittagong, they secured 6 of 9. 

The rival Sammilita Parishad won just 4 seats combined, a stark contrast to their clean sweep of all 35 posts in the March 2024 election under the ousted Awami League government.

With this landslide, Forum’s panel leader, Mahmud Hasan Khan (Babu), Managing Director of Rising Fashions Limited, is poised to become the next BGMEA president. 

The election, held on May 31, 2025, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Radisson Blu Hotels in Dhaka and Chittagong, saw 1,864 garment owners vote for 76 candidates. Three groups competed: Forum, led by Mahmud Hasan Khan (Babu); Sammilit Parishad, led by Abul Kalam of Chaiti Group; and Oikya Parishad, with six independent candidates.

The election follows significant instability in the garment sector. After the August 5, 2024, political upheaval, former BGMEA president Abdul Mannan Kochi fled and resigned. 

Khandaker Rafiqul Islam of Designtex Group assumed leadership but faced challenges. On October 20, the Ministry of Commerce appointed Anwar Hossain, vice chairman of the Export Promotion Bureau, as administrator.

On June 2, the elected directors will vote to select the president and vice-president, marking a new chapter for Bangladesh’s garment industry under Forum’s leadership.