Election commissioner Md Alamgir on Monday said the election commission has nothing to do going beyond the jurisdiction of the Constitution.
The election commission has no scope to talk about what type of government will be in office during the election. This is a political issue and has been mentioned in the Constitution, he added.
Md Alamgir was replying to queries from journalists at his office in the capital’s Agargaon.
Replying to a query on whether enhanced activities of the diplomats of different countries affect the operations of the election commission ahead of the parliament election, Md Alamgir Hossain the activities of the commission have no relation with this. This is a political matter, and the diplomats are discussing with the politicians and the commission is doing its work, he added.
Replying to another query on whether the EC can take any initiative inviting the two larger political parties to sit for dialogue, Md Alamgir insisted that the Constitution clearly states the responsibilities of the election commission. According to the Constitution, the responsibilities of the EC are to conduct president election, parliament election, formulation of voter list, delimitation of parliamentary constituency and any other responsibility bestowed on it through enacting a law.
The commission has no scope to do anything outside the Constitution, and if it does, it will be unconstitutional. When the commissioners took oath, at that time, they vowed to abide by the Constitution, he added.
Replying to another query, Md Alamgir said what will be the nature of the polls-time government, is not the EC’s concern. It is clearly stated in the Constitution what will the government system and responsibilities the EC will have to carry out, he added.
Replying to a query on whether question would arise on the role of the EC if all political parties do not join the election, Md Alamgir said all political parties never participate in the election. It never happened in the past.
He further said there are many parties and 44 of them are registered with the EC, but not all parties joins the polls because there are many issues related to the party’s capacity to contest an election, he added.