EC will try to hold polls in a free and fair manner: CEC

Chief election commissioner (CEC) Kazi Habibul Awal on Tuesday said that the Election Commission (EC) will try to ensure holding elections in a free, fair and peaceful manner, BSS reports.

"Our main goal is to ensure exercising of the voters rights," he said while holding dialogue with Islamic Oikya Jote at Nirbachan Bhaban in the city's Agargaon area.

The EC sat for dialgues with Islamic Oikya Jote, Bangladesh Khelafat Majlis and Bangladesher Samyabadi Dal separately ahead of the 12th general election.

A meeting with Bangladesh Kalyan Party was scheduled in the morning. However, the party did not join the dialogue.

Earlier, Bangladesh Muslim League also did not participate in the dialogue.

The EC has completed dialogue with 10 parties so far and it is scheduled to sit with other 29 teams till 31 July.

A delegation of 11 members led by Maulana Abul Hasanat Amini, chairman of Oikya Jote, joined the dialogue.

Later, during the dialogue with Bangladesh Khelafat Majlis, CEC Awal said, "You should try to create political consensus as you have that opportunity. Through discussion, you can reach a consensus that no one will do violence."

He urged the party leaders to stand against violence collectively.

Besides, a delegation of Bangladesher Samyabadi Dal under the leadership of Dilip Barua sat in dialogue with the EC.

CEC told them, "There are many mistakes in the National Identity Card (NID) and we are trying to fix the problems.”

Ganatantri Party, Bangladesh National Awami Party and Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) will sit for dialogues from 10.30am to 11.30am, 12.00pm to 1.00pm and 3.00pm to 5.00pm respectively on Wednesday.