Staff Reporter :
The Election Commission (EC), led by Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Kazi Habibul Awal, is set to hold an urgent press conference at 12 pm on Thursday, marking its first media engagement since the fall of deposed Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s government.
This meeting will take place at Nirbachan Bhaban, located in the city’s Agargaon area, according to the EC Secretariat’s Public Relations Officer, Shariful Islam.
This press briefing comes amidst a backdrop of silence from the Election Commission following Sheikh Hasina’s ousting on 5th August.
The commission has notably refrained from organising any local body elections over the past month. On 24th August, CEC Kazi Habibul Awal penned an article in a Bengali daily, expressing concerns over the crisis the Election Commission faces despite the successful post-revolution constitutional transition.
The current EC has faced intense criticism from various quarters, including the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and other political parties, for its role in the January 7th, 2024 general election.
This election, widely regarded as lopsided, paved the way for the Awami League to secure a fourth consecutive term in power. Moreover, numerous local body elections conducted under this commission have been questioned by different political parties.
Kazi Habibul Awal, a former secretary, assumed the role of Chief Election Commissioner on 27th February 2022. He was joined by four other election commissioners: former district and sessions judge Rashida Sultana, Brigadier General (retd) Md Ahsan Habib Khan, and former secretaries Md Alamgir and Anisur Rahman.
Notably, this commission was the first to be constituted through a search committee under a constitutionally mandated law.
The search committee engaged with eminent citizens, civil society representatives, and registered political parties to gather potential candidates for the commissionroles. While the Awami League provided names, the BNP and several other parties declined to participate in this process.
In a related development, an organisation named ‘Nagorik Samaj’ staged a demonstration on Wednesday in front of the Election Commission Bhaban in Agargaon, demanding the resignation of CEC Kazi Habibul Awal and his fellow commissioners.
The organisation also called for significant reforms within the EC, laying out a five-point proposal to this effect. Their demands includeM the resignation of the Awal Commission, the trial of the AKM Nurul Huda Commission for the 2018 elections., the trial of the Kazi Rakib Commission for the 2014 elections., the removal of officials appointed during the previous regime, who are perceived as sycophants, the promotion of skilled, competent, and honest officials within the EC.
During the demonstration, the protestors prominently displayed a banner advocating for these reforms, emphasising the need to re-establish the voting rights of the people.