Experience says fair election not possible under partisan govt

The election commission (EC) has held dialogue with eminent citizens of the country on Tuesday.

The EC invited 39 distinguished citizens to the dialogue but only 19 of them turned up.

Some of the participants told the EC that it can be said from prior experience that a fair election is not possible under a partisan government.

The eminent citizens made some recommendations including not to use electronic voting machine (EVM) without consensus, ensuring conducive environment so that voters can exercise their franchise without any obstacles, ensuring safety of women and minority voters before and after the polls, and bringing the law enforcers and polls-time administration under the EC.

Some participants said the polls-time government should be one which will be disinterested about the results of the polls. To what extent the EC will be able to exercise the powers vested with them by the constitution and the law will largely depend on the government.

Some among the participants of the meeting said the commission has to work without any fear. The commission will tell the government if it thinks the constitution and law should be amended on the polls-time government. The ECs should have the mentality to resign if they find holding fair election impossible.

Prominent citizens who took part in the dialogue are - Gonoshasthaya Kendra founder Zafrullah Chowdhury, Centre for Policy Dialogue’s (CPD) fellow Debapriya Bhattacharya, Transparency International Bangladesh’s executive director Iftekharuzzaman, former cabinet secretary Ali Imam Majumder, former governor of Bangladesh Bank Mohammed Farashuddin, University Grants Commission’s (UGC) former chairman Nazrul Islam.

Chief election commissioner (CEC) Kazi Habibul Awal said they will take necessary steps upon assessing the recommendations made by the eminent citizens.

Earlier on 13 March, they organised a dialogue with educationists of the country where only 13 out of 30 invitees took part.