Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Kazi Habibul Awal on Monday said that no political party will be compelled to join the upcoming national elections.
He said that the current commission wanted active participation of all parties in the elections, adding that: “BNP is one of the major parties. If they participate, the election will be more participatory.”
He said that a dialogue took place with two of the parties on Monday to help in decision making. Following the dialogue, the commission informed them in written form.
The commission also discussed the use of Electronic Voting Machines (EVM).
“We have decided to vote for 150 seats in ballot paper and 150 seats in EVM after taking written statements from the parties,” he added.
Kazi Habibul Awal said: “We have not only informed the parties but also the government about the views from the dialogue.”
No sign of EVM forgery
The CEC further said that despite a lot of assessment the commission did not find any forgery or flaw in the Electronic Voting Machines (EVM).
However, one problem could arise if someone votes in place of another. In this regard, CCTV cameras would be installed in all the voting booths, he added.
“We have to make arrangements to implement EVM. However, if we cannot implement it, then we will have to go for ballots,” he added.
Kazi Habibul Awal called on all the political parties to cooperate with them to ensure fair election.
