City polls won’t reflect EC’s real capability: Sakhawat
Staff Reporter :
Former Election Commissioner Brigadier General (Retd) M Sakhawat Hossain said the upcoming five city corporation elections will not reflect the incumbent Election Commission’s (EC) capability to hold free, fair, impartial, participatory and acceptable elections in the next parliamentary polls.
He made the comments while addressing an online roundtable meeting of SHUJAN (Citizens for Good Governance) on the upcoming city corporation elections on Sunday.
Presenting the reasons why EC’s effort will not successful, he said it’s a one-party election. So, there will be no reflection of EC capacity in the polls.
Referring to the deterioration of electoral culture, Sakhawat Hossain said, there is no contest in the current elections. So, voters have lost interest in the election. Even party supporters are not voting now.
Referring to destruction of electoral culture, Dhaka University Professor Asif Nazrul said, it is clear that rigging will take place in any election under this government. This government has no intention or ability to hold a free-fair election. The administration has also no such intention.
Now there is only one solution to this situation which is a caretaker government or all party or election time government, he added.
Professor M Sikandar Khan, vice-chancellor at East Delta University, said, people have lost interest in elections and voting. Politicians have to take responsibility and address the situation.
SHUJAN Secretary Badiul Alam Majumdar said, “The main opposition parties have not participated in the elections since the 11th national election. The current Election Commission has been trying to restore confidence among the main opposition parties to ensure their participation in the elections, but so far it has not been successful. As a result, there remains doubt about whether it is possible to ensure all the parties confidence in the electoral system before the national elections.”
He called upon the EC to bring the political parties to the negotiating table and work towards a compromise in order to create a conducive environment for a participatory and competitive election.
If necessary, the EC should put pressure on the ruling party to negotiate with BNP and other political parties, he added.
While presenting the keynote paper, SHUJAN Central Coordinator Dilip Kumar Sarkar, said, just before the national elections, the elections to these five city corporations will give an indication of how the national elections will be. So, these five elections are very important.
Expressing doubt about free and fair city polls, he said that the tendency of breaking the code of conduct is already being noticed in some city corporations including Gazipur. Returning Officers have been censuring and fining various candidates for violating the code of conduct, but no strict action has been taken.
He expressed fear that the use of EVMs in this election will become a big obstacle to overcoming the crisis of confidence in the election commission.
Earlier, the affidavit was made available on the commission’s website within a few days of the candidate submitting it to the Returning Officer. But in this year’s Gazipur election the Election Commission uploaded the affidavit on its website after the allocation of symbols.
As a result, candidates are not getting enough time to analyze the information and present it to the people, added Dilip.
The civic organisation called upon all stakeholders to play a role in making the upcoming city corporation elections free, fair, peaceful by emphasising the responsibility of all stakeholders in the election.
