EC needs to read mind of voters

Only 16 days are left for holding the 11th parliamentary election on 30 December. The time is limited not only for the candidates and campaigners but also for the election commission. The time is very short for the voters too!

A question will naturally come to mind as to why time is very short for the voters. On the voting day, voters will go to the polling centres and cast their votes and return home. All is finished. Oh! no, no...

More questions will arise. Will the voters be able to reach the polling stations? Will they be able to cast their votes? Will they be able to return home safely? Will their casted votes be counted accurately and results to be published accordingly?

The voters are burnt with these questions as the time is flying away swiftly. They stay worried until their concerns are addressed.

It is the election commission which is entrusted with the responsibility and administrative power to address the concerns of voters. The commission has to take steps so that voters can reach voting centres, cast their votes and return home safely. The commission has to ensure that the casted votes are counted properly and results are published.

On different occasions, the chief election commissioner and other commissioners have said they are pledge-bound to hold a fair election.

The commission has asked the police force and civil administration to act neutrally so that the voters cannot raise any question about the election.

While briefing judicial magistrates on Wednesday, chief election commissioner KM Nurul Huda said the commission is deeply shocked and embarrassed over the election violence in different districts.

Two people were killed in Noakhali and Faridpur while Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir came under attack in Takurgaon on Tuesday.

It is the responsibility of the election commission to find out those behind the deaths of two people. The commission also has to find out those who attacked the motorcade of Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir.

If the law enforcers cannot investigate properly and trace the real culprits, more pre-polls violence will occur. In case of failure of the law enforcement, the election commission needs to take tough legal action against the concerned officials. If the commission remains lenient to any agencies including the police, the polls environment will be harmed.

As the election is going to be held under the ruling Awami League led by Sheikh Hasina, the principal opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) has been pressing for creating a level-playing field for holding a fair election.

Prime minister Sheikh Hasina, however, said that the election will be fair.

Under such context and after 10 years, the voters are expecting to see a free and fair election on 30 December. Majority of the voters refrained from casting votes in the 5 January 2014 election boycotted by the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP).

It is a great as well as a tough job for the election commission to present a fair election to the nation.

Any deviation of the right path of free and fair election the country may fall into deep crisis. It is high time for the election commission to read the mind of voters and act accordingly.

* Rabiul Islam is a journalist. He can be contacted at [email protected]