Leaders of the ruling Awami League do not see any drawbacks to the decision to defer the Election Commission's proposal for the purchase of 200,000 new electronic voting machines (EVMs).
The deferral not only allows the Awami League-led government to save valuable funds amid the ongoing global economic crisis, but also denies opposition parties some political ammunition that they have been heavily using.
Mohammad Ali Arafat, a member of the Central Executive Committee of the Awami League, told Dhaka Tribune: “I think this decision of the government leads to a win-win situation for the Awami League, because BNP and some members of civil society have been talking loudly against EVMs. We want to see what their reaction will be.
“We are waiting for thanks from the BNP and civil society, as the government has considered their demands,” he added.
On condition of anonymity, some leaders of the ruling party said most lawmakers in the current parliament were against EVM use as the machines make it exponentially more difficult to stuff ballot boxes and rig polls.
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They added that the government decision to defer the EC's proposal was driven solely by the need to preserve funds, although ruling party activists are equally eager to see what opposition parties will focus on now that the EVM issue is off the table.
According to the minutes from the EC's dialogues with political parties in July last year, 17 parties that participated in the dialogues voted in favour of EVMs, while 12 parties voted against them. Some of the parties that attended the dialogues claimed more than 12 parties had objected to EVM use.
Nine registered political parties, including the BNP, did not participate in the dialogues with the EC.
Despite the objections, the EC decided to use EVMs in 150 constituencies in October last year.
