Election Commissioner Mahbub Talukder has walked out on an Election Commission meeting, as suggestions he had previously made regarding the upcoming 11th national election were not allowed to be discussed.
Mahbub walked out just seven minutes into the meeting, after submitting a note of dissent.
The Election Commission secretary and all election commissioners were present at the meeting, which began at Election Commission Secretariat in Dhaka’s Agargoan around 11am on Monday. The meeting was convened to discuss preparations for the upcoming 11th national election.
According to the note of dissent, Mahbub had sent a note to the chief election commissioner on September 18, with suggestions on how to hold the 11th national election in a fair, free, unbiased and participatory manner.
Upon receiving a correction to the note, the chief election commissioner had informed Mahbub that his suggestions would be discussed at the 36th meeting of the commission, held on Monday, the note of dissent said.
Mahbub's suggestions were compiled from a series of dialogues between the commission and the 40 registered political parties, held in a span of three months from July 31 to October 2. His suggestion included deciding on procedures for military deployment during the election, equal rights for all political parties, the ensuring of impartial voting, increasing the capacity of the Election Commission, and Mahbub’s opinions on discussions with the government.
However, at Monday's meeting, Mahbub was unable to raise his suggestions after three other election commissioners sent separate notes to the Chief Election Commissioner in order to stop Mahbub's suggestions from being discussed.
Mahbub expressed his disappointment and surprise at the other election commissioners' stance on the matter, the note of dissent said.
Every individual has the right to freedom of speech, but Mahbub was denied this right at the meeting, leading him to walk out in protest, it added.
Meanwhile, the amendment of related rules, regulations, and forms to include transgender people as the 3rd gender on the voter list was also discussed at Monday’s meeting.
This is not the first time that Mahbub has walked out on a meeting of the Election Commission. He had also left a meeting after submitting a note of dissent in August, expressing opposition to the Election Commission’s decision to amend the Representation of the People Order (RPO) in order to use electronic voting machines (EVM) in the 11th national election.
