BNP leaders have said that the decision to defer the purchase of electronic voting machines (EVMs) will not slow their movement as the party's main aim is to ensure that the next general election is held under a neutral government.
Leaders of the major opposition party also admitted that a crisis of funds was the main reason for the deferral decision, although their movement also had an impact.
“There is not enough money in government funds to spend the Tk8,000 crores required to purchase the 200,000 EVMs. Due to this fund crisis, they have decided to postpone the project,” said BNP leader Barrister Rumeen Farhana.
“The BNP's movement has had an impact here, but the fund crisis is a bigger reason than the opposition's nationwide movement,” she added.
She claimed that it is easiest to “steal votes” through EVMs.
“It is easiest to steal votes through EVMs, although votes have been stolen in ballots also under this government, but we cannot prove the fault of EVM. Who will prove what kind of program is used inside the machine and whether it is taking three times the votes for the boat symbol?” Rumeen Farhana questioned.
BNP Standing Committee member Selima Rahman said: “We have said from the beginning that we do not accept voting through EVMs. We are against EVMs, and this was one of the demands of our movement.”
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She added: “This suspension announcement is an outcome of our movement. But our main target is to ensure that the next elections are not held under the current government.”
BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir told Dhaka Tribune: “We are against EVMs, however, we will not accept the election under this government even if voting is done through ballots. Our movement is not only to cancel EVMs, but also for elections not to be held under this government. We have seen in the last two times that fair elections are not possible under this government.”
Citing confusion with technology during the Rangpur mayoral elections, the BNP leaders said most of the rural people of the country are not tech-savvy so EVMs make voting confusing for them.
They also hoped that the EVM deferral was a sign that their movement would eventually lead to the fall of the government.