Jatiya Oikya Front: Government, EC will be sued if they try to use EVMs
The alliance says use of EVMs will be a violation of the constitution and an offence equivalent to treason
The Dr Kamal Hossain-led Jatiya Oikya Front has warned that it will file a case against the government and the Election Commission if they try to use electronic voting machines (EVMs) in the 11th general election without amending the constitution.
“It will be a violation of the constitution and an offence equivalent to treason if EVMs are used in the election, and we, Jatiya Okiya Front, will file a case if they try to use the EVMs in the election,” said the coalition’s leader ASM Abdur Rab on Thursday.
Rab, also the Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (JSD-Rab) president, came up with the warning at a seminar on EVM use organized by Oikya Front at Hotel Lakeshore in Dhaka.
Citing Article 65 of the constitution, ASM Abdur Rab said: “Parliament shall be formed by direct election, but voting through machines is not direct election. The proposed EVMs do not fulfill this condition. Therefore, using EVMs without amending the constitution is impossible.”
“Direct election means all the procedures are open and clear to the voters. In the context of Bangladesh, EVMs are obscure, undemocratic and not open,” he added.
Asking the government to reveal who were involved in the programming of the EVMs, Rab further said: “It is widely known that an election can be manipulated with EVM voting and if the government does so, they will face trial.”
BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, BNP Standing Committee Members Dr Abdul Moin Khan and Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury, Krishak Sramik Janata League President Abdul Kader Siddique, Nagorik Oikya Convener Mahmudur Rahman Manna, Gonoshasthaya Kendra Founder Dr Jafarullah Chowdhury, Gano Forum Executive President Subrata Chowdhury, Jatiya Party (Kazi Zafar) Secretary General Mostafa Jamal Haider were present at the seminar.
Addressing the program, BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said the government was resorting to various tricks to forcibly return to power as it had no confidence in the people.
He, however, said that their party together with people would join the polls and engage in a battle of ballots on election day, December 30.
“The government has made the EC loyal to them, which is why the EC does not pay any heed to the people’s voice. This shows the political bankruptcy of the ruling party. This is the reason behind the imprisonment of BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia and the ongoing killings and kidnappings across the country,” Fakhrul added.
Krishak Sramik Janata League President Abdul Kader Siddique said: “The governments was already defeated when the Jatiya Oikya Front was formed under the leadership of Dr Kamal Hossain.”
“We do not want the EVMs. Neither the people nor the government understands EVMs. The EC has to realize that people do not want EVMs in the election,” he added.
Nagorik Oikya Convener Mahmudur Rahman Manna said: “EVMs are bogus things. Since human beings made these machines, they also can manipulate them. We have to create more pressure on the EC to cancel this bogus system.”
Gano Forum Executive President Subrata Chowdhury said: “It is not possible for the ruling party to fool 160 million people. We will prevent them by any means. The aftermath of using EVMs will be dangerous.”
Earlier at the seminal, the technical team of Oikya Front delivered several presentations on how the election result may be manipulated through the use of EVMs.
