Interview: M Hafizuddin Khan
'We can't allow the election system to be destroyed'
Former caretaker government advisor, M Hafizuddin Khan, is one of the 42 signatories of the letter submitted to the president, bringing allegations of corruption and misconduct against the election commission. In an interview with Prothom Alo, he speaks about why they had raised these issues now, what they expected from their initiative, and other issues.
You are among the 42 eminent citizens who submitted a letter to the president, bringing about various allegations of misconduct against the election commission. Was there any specific occasion for bringing about these allegations at this particular moment?
There is no specific occasion. It has been two years since the last general election. Over these two years, we have observed that the election commission has not been carrying out its responsibilities. On the contrary, there have been all sorts of allegations of serious misconduct against them. These allegations have appeared in the news media and the public have been informed about this. A constitutional institution cannot and should not continue in this manner. And also, though there is no general election any time soon, there are local government elections. That is why we took up this initiative.
What are your expectations from the president?
In the letter we have written that the election commission, since taking up office, has been involved in all sorts of discrepancies. They are involved in serious financial corruption and irregularities. These are such grave offences that we feel the election commission has lost its authority to carry out its responsibilities. We want the present leadership of the election commission to be impeached. We have appealed to the president to form a supreme judicial council and investigate the allegations of serious misdeeds. Our expectations are that the president will take the allegations into consideration and form a supreme judicial council if he deems necessary.
In the prevailing political system of the country, we observe that even the president is reluctant to take any decision without the approval of the ruling political party. Given the circumstances, do you think the president will be able to meet your expectations?
Yes, there remains a question. The government is always alert about exerting its power and so nothing is done without the prime minister's nod. Even so, we have placed the matter before him. At the same time, we have informed the people of the country that we are totally frustrated with the election commission. We have carefully specified our allegations and made these public. Now it is up to the president and the government to take a decision. We cannot say what they will decide. It was our responsibility to bring these matters to light and we did so. We did not do so from any political stance, but in the interests of the country, of the nation. We did so out of our commitment to a democratic system. We will request the president and the government to take appropriate measures.
Everyone at home and abroad saw how the 30 December 2018 parliamentary election was held. Perhaps no one had imagined that such a disgraceful election would be held after the 1990 mass uprising. How did the election system erode so drastically? Surely this did not happen overnight.
Since the mass uprising of 1990, only the elections held under caretaker governments have been credible. No other elections have had that degree of credibility. And the 2018 election cannot even be called an election. The election results prove that the election was not at all free or fair. Just one example is enough. In 213 polling centres, 100 per cent of the votes were cast. This is simply not possible. In 590 centres, 100 per cent of the legitimate votes simply went in favour of one symbol. The meaning of this is clear to everyone. Other than the ruling party, everyone else in the country has been upset, angry and frustrated by the election. Yet the election commission claims it was a free and fair election and affirms that there have been no allegations against them. When they make such claims, what can be said?
Many feel that the present election commission under KM Nurul Huda has exceeded that degeneration of the MA Aziz election commission. Towards the end of 2006 here had been strong protests and demonstrations against MA Aziz. Why are there no such moves at present?
The people are too angry and frustrated. That is why there are no protests or demonstrations.
What about the political parties? We do we not see any political force that will launch a movement for fair elections. Why?
That is my question, too. We have often asked, why did we see no one take to the streets on 31 December or 1 January after such a despicable election on 30 December? What happens in other countries if there are discrepancies in the election? What did we see in Belarus? What a massive uprising took place there! We saw this in our own country too in the past. There was huge protest against the BNP Magura election, a massive movement was launched. A caretaker government system was brought about to bring a halt to election irregularities. There is nothing like that today. This is very unfortunate. This is the failure of the political parties.
The election commission, in a press briefing, has dismissed all your allegations, terming these as baseless.
The allegations that we brought about are nothing new. The media have written about these. Journalists have investigated, reported and informed the people about the election commission's misdeeds. Why did the election commission not protest so far? Why did it not say these reports were baseless? Secondly, let it be examined whether these are baseless or not. That is why we have called for a supreme judicial council to be formed to investigate whether our allegations have any substance. The problem won't be solved by simply dismissing the allegations as baseless.
If the president actually forms a supreme judicial council to investigate your allegations, would you expect a neutral investigation?
We want to hope so. Let the president take initiative for a supreme judicial council. We expect they will investigate the matter neutrally because it involves the very existence of the election system. This is an effort to thwart the moves to destroy one of the major institutional exercises of our democracy. We must continue in our efforts to protect a free and democratic election system.