CEC: EC Mahbub trying to undermine Election Commission

Chief Election Commissioner KM Nurul Huda said that his colleague Election Commissioner Mahbub Talukder is doing whatever necessary to undermine, defame, and demean the Election Commission.

He made the remark at the National Voters' Day program organized at Bangladesh Nirbachon Bhaban on Tuesday.

The CEC said that Mahbub Talukder is humiliating the commission out of personal interest and malafide intent. “He made political remarks on the occasion of National Voters’ Day. He does not work for the benefit of the Election Commission.”

Nurul Huda made the remarks after Mahbub Talukder in his speech said that the level playing field and balance that elections need  in order to maintain multi-party democracy is not present.

“Local elections do not have much importance; on the contrary, bagging a nomination has become the priority. A model of irregularity in the local elections has been built around violence, capture of voting centres, and destruction of EVMs,” Mahbub Talukder said in a written statement, titled “My Words.”

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“Candidates are winning unopposed. The night before the voting day, vote was over, “ he said. 

He noted that if the electoral process is not reformed, the quality of elections that are being held now is likely to go down further.

The election commissioner in his written speech also said in the city corporation elections in Dhaka and Chittagong, mayors were elected with record low votes.

He said that primarily he was against the use of EVMs but now he was in favour of the new system for two reasons – ballot riggers cannot stuff ballots the night before the election and it can prevent the embarrassment of getting 100% votes in some centres.

However, voting through EVMs reduces voter turnout and turnout figures alarmingly, he mentioned.

Later, CEC KM Nurul Huda said Mahbub Talukder used to take a piece of paper out of his pocket and read out all the negative aspects of the commission since the day he joined the Election Commission. “Today is no exception,” he said.

The CEC said that Mahbub Talukder has been behaving "the same way" in all the meetings since he joined the Election Commission.