Describing not being able to achieve cent percent success as a failure, outgoing Chief Election Commissioner KM Nurul Huda said that there have been some mistakes during their term.
“There have been a lot of deaths during the polls, which could not be controlled,” he said while addressing a media call on Monday, the last day in office of the incumbent commission.
“We have performed our duties neutrally. We operated in line with the law,” said Huda.
After criticisms outside and conflict within for five years, the Huda-led commission’s tenure ends on Monday.
Huda along with two election commissioners Md Rafiqul Islam and Kabita Khanam appeared in front of the press.
Brig Gen Shahadat Hossain Chowdhury was absent as he contracted Covid-19 whereas Mahbub Talukder spoke to the media separately at his office.
While presenting a summary of the activities of the commission in the last five years, CEC Huda said, “We have successfully conducted all the elections that were handed over to us from local government, in the challenging time of Covid.’
He added that the commission also amended the existing election commission law, updated the electoral roll enabling expatriates and citizens without parent's identities to be enlisted as voters.
He also mentioned their success in redetermining the parliament constituencies where the enclaves were included for the first time.
Despite Huda’s claims of a relatively successful tenure the outgoing commission has been one of the most controversial, being accused as partial towards the ruling party by the political parties and civil society, especially for their inactive role in the 2018 national election.
The CEC categorically rejected the allegations of vote-rigging irregularities, corruption, misconduct and internal conflicts as “baseless.”
Responding to queries on whether the commission feels awkward after these allegations, the EC said: "Not at all. No EC can be successful in fulfilling their duties 100 percent.”
“But we have done nothing to be embarrassed. The people who call us spokesperson of Awami League, are the same people who congratulate us for conducting successful elections," he added.
"Not a single person complained to us after the national election. There is a law that a grievous person can go to court to challenge the result," he added.
Mahbub Talukder: I was a minority in this commission
Meanwhile, Election Commissioner Mahbub Talukder in a separate media call accused the outgoing EC as “undisciplined, fraud, and biased."
"Today the democracy of our country is lying like a corpse. Right to caste vote is similar to human rights. When that right is taken away from citizens, democracy is doomed," he said.
Responding to queries on his initiatives against such malpractices Talukder said: "I was a minority in this commission. I still tried to speak on behalf of the weak and oppressed demography who needed the power to cast votes to decide their fate.”
In line with the new law to institute the commission, the president has appointed a search panel to recommend suitable candidates for the new Election Commission.
The six-member panel has already received names from political parties and held meetings with eminent citizens in three phases.
The search committee will propose ten names for the roles of chief election commissioner and the other election commissioners, who will pick from the list to form the new Election Commission.
According to the new law passed by parliament on Election Commission formation, the search panel has a maximum of 15 days.