It will create another crisis

Chief Election Commissioner Kazi Habibul Awal has said bringing the public administration, home and defence ministries under the Election Commission during polls may create another crisis.

He also said elections can be questioned if the government does not provide necessary assistance sought by the commission to hold free and fair polls.

The CEC made the comments during talks with two political parties at the EC office yesterday.

Meanwhile, two more political parties -- Bangladesher Samajtantrik Dal and Liberal Democratic Party -- skipped the dialogues with the EC yesterday.

Earlier, four other parties -- BNP, Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (JSD Rab), Bangladesh Kalyan Party and Bangladesh Muslim League -- stayed away from the talks which began on July 17.

The EC has been holding series of dialogues with political parties and a cross-section of people, seeking recommendations on how to hold the next national polls, scheduled to be held in late December 2023, in a free and fair manner.

The commission in its latest series of dialogues has held meetings with 18 parties until yesterday.

Bangladesh Muslim League and Workers Party of Bangladesh, who joined the talks yesterday, and at least eight other political parties raised the demand for bringing the public administration, home, local government, defence and information ministries under the EC during elections to ensure free and fair polls.

"They have said the Election Commission should be entrusted with many things to strengthen it during elections. I doubt if we can take it [responsibility of running ministries] even if were are entrusted with by the government in line with the constitution," Awal said at the meeting with Workers Party in the afternoon.

"Because everything about how the cabinet will be formed, and who will be its members is mentioned in the constitution. The Election Commission is not a ministry. But I would then become the home minister, the defence minister or any other minister, and that may create another crisis," he added.

Responding to Workers Party General Secretary Fazle Hossain Badsha's question about what the EC would do if there was support for a particular party from foreigners, Awal said the issue of foreign "interference" has to be addressed by political parties politically and the commission has nothing to do about it.

Speaking at the meeting with Muslim League in the morning, the CEC said holding a national election is a "tough task".

He said there would be a government during the elections and the EC would have "control over it".

"We will seek assistance. We believe that that government will not be able to say 'no'. If they say 'no', then the elections will be questioned."

Muslim League proposed forming an election-time government with representatives from all registered political parties. The party opposed use of EVM in elections and suggested dissolving parliament three months prior to the national elections, appointment of a judge equivalent to the rank of the district judge as the returning officer in each constituency during the national polls.

Workers Party, a component of the ruling Awami League-led 14-party alliance, proposed a proportional representation in parliament on the basis of votes. It recommended that the election-time government should perform routine day-to-day activities, Voter-Verified Paper Audit Trail (which allows voters to verify that their votes have been cast) should be added to the EVMs and army should be deployed if it is of utmost necessity.

Meanwhile, the EC yesterday postponed the July 27 by-election to the chairman post of Najirpur Tatherkhathi union in Patukhali's Bauphal upazila.

The development came after a supporter of the ruling Awami League candidate on Saturday said that they would "come to know which voter cast vote for whom as the polls would be held using EVMs".