Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Kazi Habibul Awal on Thursday said that there are no reports of acts of violence and breach of electoral code of conduct taking place on a major scale.
“We have not received many complaints of violations of code of conduct from field administration and candidates,” said the CEC.
There have been some incidents of violence, altercations, tearing of posters in some areas. “But overall, I don't think there have been many such incidents,” said Habibul Awal.
He said these things to reporters after meeting with the representative of National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on Thursday.
“We have travelled extensively in the election field. I talked to the candidates. I had a meeting with the administration. We have not received many complaints from them,” said Kazi Habibul Awal.
The CEC expressed his hope that there would be gradual improvement regarding the situation on the ground.
EC is in touch with the administration so that they can maintain the ground situation strictly, he said.
On the question of the meeting with the NHRC chairman, the CEC said that the NHRC chairman highlighted the issues of human rights during the election.
“The right to cast a vote, to be elected, and to elect is a fundamental human right. He (NHRC chairman) wants to cooperate with us. We also want to help them. These things are gradual in our political culture if we are able to convince them that it is possible to choose non-violent methods without violence. We should continue our efforts towards that end,” said Habibul Awal.
Referring to the role of the media, the CEC said: “The role of the media should be objective. Many times the media misleads people by cutting out the part that is needed. It doesn't always, sometimes it confuses people. So the media should also be more responsible.”
He commented that it is necessary to play a positive role in the overall election process or political process by providing objective news.