CEC: Most discussions surrounding EVMs have been negative

Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Kazi Habibul Awal on Tuesday said most people are speaking against the Electronic Voting Machine (EVM). 

He said this while talking to ten political parties in Bangladesh Election Commission in Agargaon, Dhaka. 

Kazi Habibul Awal Collected

The CEC said: “Newspapers are posting news about EVM from the moment we took this responsibility. There have been both positive and negative debates about EVM, even before we did not have much idea about what EVM is. However, we have already worked a lot with EVMs and gained some knowledge about it”. 

He also said: “We have sat to consult this issue twice before. Many people talked in favour of EVM while many people suggested adding more technological advancement and capital to this machine.”

“At the same time, some abruptly declined to participate in the election with EVM. We have decided before that we will only go with this plan after consulting with other political parties. Ultimately, we need to come up with a decision,” he added. 

Habibul mentioned that he wanted to limit Tuesday’s discussion to EVM only.

He asked for constructive criticism and questions about technical issues of the EVM from the political parties. 

“EC will only come to a conclusive decision after listening to their (parties’) opinion about it,” he observed. 

A totakl of 13 political parties were invited by the Election Commission to this discussion. 

Earlier, the EC had invited 28 political parties in two phases. 

On June 19 and 21, the EC held a meeting of representatives of political parties on EVM verification. However, although 18 parties were present in those two steps, eight parties including BNP did not respond.