BNP Standing Committee Member Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury on Monday said having either ballot paper or electronic voting machines (EVMs) does not prove that the general election would be fair.
"We do not expect a fair election by the government-appointed Election Commission. When a new commission is formed under a neutral government, we will discuss and plan with them how the election environment can be smooth," he told Dhaka Tribune.
Barrister Rumeen Farhana, the BNP's international relations secretary, said the government had decided to cancel EVMs in 300 seats in the next national election under compulsion.
“The government has no money. Some 150,000 EVMs have been destroyed due to lack of maintenance and crores of taka wasted due to their indifference. The decision not to have EVMs does not mean that the elections are going to be fair,” she told Dhaka Tribune.
The BNP had long been opposing the use of EVMs in the polls, saying the authorities might manipulate the results in their favour.
Meanwhile, Agriculture Minister Dr M Abdur Razzaque said the government wanted to use EVMs to make the voting fairer.
Talking to reporters at the ministry yesterday, he said: “The government had taken a policy decision to use EVMs. It is used in neighbouring countries. However, it is difficult to procure EVMs in such a short period of time.
"Again, due to the financial crisis caused as a result of the Russian-Ukraine war, we also have to deal with various pressures."
He hoped that the decision not to use EVMs would make it easier for the BNP to join the election. "But the EVMs were not discarded to bring the BNP to the polls.”
Our reporter Nawaz Farhin Antara contributed to this report.
