Chief election commissioner Kazi Habibul Awal on Thursday denied putting any pressure on voters to go to polling centres during the January 7 general election.
‘There is no reason for creating any pressure from our side. Authorities are creating awareness among the voters about their right to vote. And it is part of their responsibilities,’ the CEC said.
The CEC made the comment, responding to a query as the EC briefed foreign diplomats at a city hotel.
‘We have briefed the foreign diplomats about the last-moment situation, as they expect our election to be fair, free, and peaceful,’ Awal told reporters following the briefing.
The CEC feared that parties that had been boycotting the election might rather create pressure on the voters not to go to polling centres, referring to major opposition parties, including the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, that boycotted the election.
The CEC called upon high commissioners and ambassadors to objectively assess the outcomes of the election and form correct views and opinions, according to a written statement he read out before the diplomats.
The foreign mission representatives also inquired about complaints being lodged with the Election Commission about the violation of the electoral code and violence during the electioneering.
He said that the EC received a total of 600 complaints, mostly related to code violations.
‘Moreover, there were complaints of violence during the electioneering. We have disposed of as many as 400 complaints out of the 600 we have received so far,’ the CEC told reporters.
‘There is no gainsaying the fact that one major opposition political party in alliance with certain other parties is not contesting. Had they contested, the election might have been more inclusive and peaceful,’ Awal told the diplomats in his written statement.
They declared time and again that the Election Commission would be unseated and the government would be toppled well ahead of the election, he said, adding that the boycotting parties could not make that happen.
The CEC said that they always believed and said that the Election Commission alone, by its lone efforts, cannot hold a free and fair election.
‘We wish boycotting political parties may, by peaceful means, campaign against upcoming election, but shall not resist election, nor shall force voters to abstain from voting,’ the CEC said.
Around 50 diplomats from foreign missions, including those from the United Nations, European Union, United States, United Kingdom, India, and China, attended the briefing on the national election.
As the diplomats wanted to know when the election results would be disclosed, Awal said that they had developed apps so that one could get updates on voting in each centre every two hours.
‘For an example, if the votes cast jumped to 80 per cent all on a sudden from 20 per cent, it would create suspicion,’ the CEC added.
Foreign secretary Masud Bin Momen later told reporters that 60 foreign observers out of 127 registered so far arrived to observe the election.
Moreover, 17 foreign journalists out of 73, who had registered their names had reached here, he added.source: newage
