Election will be incomplete without BNP: CEC

Chief election commissioner (CEC) Kazi Habibul Awal on Thursday said that the election might remain incomplete if BNP doesn’t participate in the election.

“Although different small parties are taking part in the poll, it is undeniable that they are not equal to BNP. If the party (BNP) doesn't participate in the election, there's no doubt that an uncertainty or an incompletion might prevail in the election,” he said.

He said this in an interview with BBC Bangla published on Thursday.

The CEC thinks that they (EC) will be ‘happy’ if the election is held peacefully without any conflict or violence, but it (election) will remain incomplete from the perspective of democratic spirit.

CEC stated that there is no plan for reshuffling the administration in advance to create a convincing atmosphere for the election. “There is no certainty that the opposition parties will take part in the election if we bring change in the administration.”

However, the EC will consider it if opposition parties talk about this after deciding to participate in the election, the CEC assured.

Mentioning that the EC didn’t get response from the country’s one of the leading political parties—BNP and its like-minded parties, Kazi Habibul Awal said, “Despite being refused for two times, I sent a letter on behalf of the Election Commission not only to Fakhrul Islam Alamgir but also to those parties’ leaders who are boycotting the election, but didn’t get any response.”