GM Quader says using EVMs in national election won't be logical

Taking votes using electronic voting machines (EVMs) in the next parliamentary election will not be logical, Jatiya Party chairman GM Quader has said.

JaPa leader said, "Voting using EVMs will be illogical in a country where symbols are used next to the candidates' names due to illiteracy (of voters) as the voters cannot cast votes reading the names of all candidates."

GM Quader made the remarks while addressing a meeting of the Jatiya Party Dhaka North unit at the party chairman's Banani office auditorium.

The Jatiya Party chief said no candidate can challenge the results of the election that is held using EVMs for lack of ballot papers. "The results that the voting machines give will be announced. It is like the government wants to send the people of the country to the Mars, but a living environment has not been created there."

GM Quader, also the deputy opposition leader in parliament, said: "The way the country is being run will end the dream of democracy and multiparty democracy cannot be protected. It cannot be continued."

He also urged the leaders and activists of the Jatiya Party to get ready to carry out a struggle for their survival.

The Jatiya Party chairman said there is no democracy in the country as a one-party dictatorship has been introduced. "Autocracy has been given legitimacy by amending the constitution. The country has been under a constitutional dictatorship since 1991."