Abdur Rahman Khan
With the December-30 municipal election approaching fast, the incidents of violation of the election code of conduct is on the rise in different election areas for lack of any effective drive by the Election Commission to address the allegations.
BNP on Wednesday alleged that the municipal election atmosphere is being vitiated with the widespread violation of the election code of conduct by ministers and MPs.
“Ministers, MPs and responsible officials are frequently violating election rules, leading to pre-election violence and hampering the polls atmosphere,” said BNP chairperson’s adviser Shamsuzzaman Dudu. Addressing a press conference at BNP chairperson’s Gulshan office, the BNP leader said though the Election Commission has exposed its helplessness by seeking the Prime Minister’s intervention, a fair election is still possible if the Commission sincerely and neutrally plays its role braving the fear and obstructions.
Responsibility lies with EC
He alleged that their party candidates and their supporters are being attacked, tortured and arrested in different municipalities. He criticised the EC for not taking any action against those violating the election code of conduct and carrying out attacks on their opponents despite repeated complaints lodged by the party.
Referring to Jatiya Party chief and Prime Minister’s special envoy HM Ershad’s comment that the municipal election will be concluded by 9 AM on December 30, the BNP leader said, “He (Ershad) is a responsible person as he is part of the Prime Minister’s Office. It’s not clear whether he’s given the Prime Minister’s message.” He urged the PMO to make its position clear over Ershad’s comment.
Though the EC initially took actions in a few incidents over code violation after the announcement of election schedule, they said, the Commission has now shifted its responsibility to returning officers. Chief Election Commissioner Kazi Rakibuddin Ahmad on Saturday also said the returning officers were instructed to take action over code violation and informed the Commission about the actions they were taking.
“As they (returning officers) are there in the field, they’ll take action immediately and inform us (EC). We asked the returning officers to report us (over violation of polls code) everyday,” he told reporters after a coordination meeting of the EC here with law enforcement agencies and local administration over security measures to be taken for the election.
About EC’s inactions, former Election Commissioner Sohul Hossain told the media that the EC cannot avoid its responsibility by only asking the returning officers to take actions over the code breaching. He said both the Commission and returning officers need to act simultaneously against code violation. “Here the overall responsibility goes to the Election Commission. The Commission, by the time, should have said it would take care of everything,” he added.
EC shirking responsibility
He said, “The Election Commission doesn’t seem to be as much active as it was supposed to be in arranging a fair election.”
Former caretaker government adviser M Hafizuddin Khan also said the EC wants to shirk its responsibility by shifting the duty to returning officers. Terming the present Commission ‘weak’, he said it is not taking effective steps when it comes to the violation of the election code conduct.
As the Commission did not take effective action and monitoring measures at the initial stage, the violation of election code has been on the rise alarmingly, they said. BNP has also expressed its surprise over the EC’s ‘helplessness’ by seeking the Prime Minister’s intervention to prevent the election code of conduct violation by the ruling party men.
“The Election Commission has tremendous power. A fair election is possible if the Commission properly exercises its power,” said BNP standing committee member Gayeshwar Chandra Roy on Wednesday. “We’ve seen they [EC)] have urged the Prime Minister to intervene in containing the violation of the election code of conduct. Such helplessness of the EC is surprising,” he added.
Gayeshwar Roy came up with the remarks while talking to reporters after taking part in electioneering in favour of Bandarban municipality BNP mayoral candidate Jabed Reza. He alleged that the Commission has failed to protect the dignity and independence of the statutory body. Earlier on Sunday, Election Commissioner Md Shahnewaz sought the Prime Minister’s intervention in checking the violation of the election code of the conduct by ministers and MPs.
Gayeshwar Roy said their party has strong doubt about fair elections to the 235 municipalities on December 30. “Though we knew the election won’t be fair, we’ve participated in it to show the country’s people once again that it’s how much logical to go to polls under the current regime.
BNP for army deployment
Meanwhiale, Awami League has lodged objection to the Election Commission against 10 out of 30 election monitoring organisations ahead of the municipal polls. The ruling party raised the objection in a letter to the EC Secretariat on Wednesday, said Director of the EC Secretariat SM Asaduzzaman.
The 10 organisations include Manobadhikar Somonnoy Parishad, Democracy Watch, Manobik Sahajjo Sangstha, Manobadhikar O Samaj Unnayan Sangstha, Light House, Odhikar, Right Jessore, Jagorani Chakra and National Youth Forum.
A ruling party delegation, led by its joint general secretary Mahbub-ul-Alam Hanif, also met the Chief Election Commissioner on Thursday to discuss the issue.
Claiming that her party will get 80 percent votes if there is no manipulation and rigging in the December- 30 municipal polls, BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia on Monday demanded deployment of Army in the election. “I can predict, BNP will get 80 percent votes if the election is held fairly. But as a worthless and spineless person [CEC] is there in the Election Commission and you cannot expect proper polling from him,” she said.
Speaking at a discussion at the Institution of Engineers, Bangladesh in Dhaka, Khaleda Zia said: “Deployment of Army is a must to hold credible municipal polls. We can expect a fair election to some extent if the Army is deployed. She, however, maintained that Sheikh Hasina will not agree to deploy army as she does not want the force to be there in the field.
In her around 51-minute speech, the former prime minister also came down hard on the EC for not taking action against the ruling party men for regularly violating the election code of conduct. “Even the Prime Minster [Sheikh Hasina] herself violated the election code of conduct and a complaint was lodged with the Election Commission, but it remained quiet about it.”
The BNP chief said people will cast their votes in favour of the sheaf of paddy if they get the opportunity to go to polling stations freely. Khaleda urged the freedom fighters to go to the polling stations braving any obstacle and cast their votes for BNP candidates to restore democracy in the country.
Source: Weekly Holiday
