The Election Commission will not say anything about an interim government overseeing the next polls but will work to ensure participatory and fair elections, its chief Kazi Habibul Awal has said.
“We have taken an oath to perform our duties in accordance with the law and constitutional provisions,” Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Awal said while speaking at a dialogue with the editors of 23 dailies at the EC Headquarters in Dhaka on Wednesday.
The editors stressed the role of the EC in ensuring fair elections. They also called on the commission to maintain integrity while discharging its duties.
Emerging from the meeting, the CEC briefed the media on the dialogue and said: "We invited journalists and took their opinions and suggestions. Now we will work in line with the commission's plan, keeping their opinions in mind.”
Asked about bringing back people’s trust in the commission, he said: “We are always optimistic and there will be no flaw in our attempts in winning people’s trust.”
Tasmima Hossain, editor of the Daily Ittefaq, suggested holding the national election of constituencies under each division separately on a weekly basis instead of on a single day.
She said by segmenting the election division-wise, people would be able to see how many voters cast their votes and how many seats the Awami League and the BNP obtained.
She also asked the commission: "If 30% of the total number of voters participated in previous elections, then how could a candidate get so many votes?"
The former Jatiya Party (JaPa) lawmaker further said: “We do not expect the commission to be able to hold the election cent percent fair. But we will congratulate them if they are able to achieve 50% success.”
Tasmima Hossain also raised questions about the frequent changes in the parliamentary boundaries of the constituencies. In her area, it had been changed three times, she said.
Daily Samakal Advisory Editor Abu Sayeed Khan said: "The EC should not belong to any party or quarter. Proper election planning and assigned responsibilities must be done accordingly."
He advised the commission not to respond to the government or any influential people. Fair elections were possible only if the commission fulfilled its responsibilities under the constitution.
National Press Club President Farida Yasmin said the EC must take immediate steps to bring the BNP to the polls for ensuring a participatory election; the initiative must be taken by the Election Commission.
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The present EC must gain the confidence of all people. The election will not be acceptable if the commission failed to obtain mass people's trust, she added.
Prothom Alo Joint Editor Sohrab Hasan suggested that the Election Commission should analyse the last three elections. It has to review what the obstacles were in making the 2014 and 2018 elections fair and eliminate them.
He said the previous election commission and administration were loyal to the government. but the current commission had to come out of that situation and play a vital role.
Noting that the returning officer was very important in national elections, he said that officials of the commission should be appointed as returning officers to prevent any outside interference in the electoral process.
