Chief election commissioner Kazi Habibul Awal on Monday said that the Election Commission will not ‘pull anyone by the hands’ to bring them to the election.

The CEC made the remark while talking with reporters at his office at the Nirbachan Bhaban in Dhaka.

‘The BNP [the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party] is one of the key political parties in the country. We do not have any “restrictions” on what they want. We have no jurisdiction to interfere in their political strategy,’ he said.

Saying that the commission wants a participatory election, the CEC observed that stability occurred when there is an actively-participated competitive election.

‘Political parties create this stability all over the world. All are cordially invited to come and actively take part in the election,’ he said, making an appeal to the political parties to keep faith in the Election Commission and help it.

Urging the BNP to participate in the polls with faith and trust in the commission, he said, ‘If they take part, the election will be more competitive... The EC alone cannot conduct a free, fair and acceptable election. The parties have to come forward.’

The CEC also spoke about the decision to use electronic voting machines in maximum 150 parliamentary seats amid a clear divide among the country’s political parties over the use of EVMs.

‘In this machine — many trust, many do not. But whether our decision can be implemented at all will depend on whether it [EVM] is available or not. Because most of its parts will come from abroad,’ he added.

On examining the EVM, no chance of tampering was found, he said.

‘After the identification of the person, only the fingerprint[ing option] will appear. Then the ballot[ting option] will open. There will be 40 seconds. You have to vote in this time,’ he added.

However, the CEC admitted that there is an opportunity to vote for someone else in the secret booth after identifying the voter’s identity.

‘That crisis is on our mind. We will install CC cameras for this,’ he added.

‘But we will assign the difficult responsibility to the presiding officer. If anyone interferes with the voting, legally or illegally, the voting will stop immediately and that person will be expelled,’ he said.

The CEC also said that the final voter list would be published in March 2023.

On the last day of the EC-hosted dialogue with political parties, the Jatiya Party-JP, led by Anwar Hossain Manju, said that it wanted the use of EVMs in some of the polling stations in all the constituencies instead of the EC’s plan to use the machine in maximum 150 seats.

‘If the EVM is used, it should be used in all the 300 seats. If the Election Commission uses the EVMs, it must be used in every seat,’ said JP general secretary Sheikh Shahidul Islam.

A 10-member JP delegation, led by Sheikh Shahid, participated in the dialogue with the CEC and other commissioners and senior officials of the commission.

Besides, the Bangladesh Awami Party suggested that EVM should be used in the polls after the machine becomes acceptable to all.

A NAP delegation, led by its acting president Ivy Ahmed, made the suggestion during its dialogue with the EC.

The commission had invited 39 parties to the dialogue between July 17 and July 31. However, nine parties, including the BNP, boycotted it.

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Editor: Nurul Kabir , Published by the Chairman, Editorial Board ASM Shahidullah Khan on behalf of Media New Age Ltd. Hamid Plaza (4th floor), 300/5/A/1, Bir Uttam CR Datta Road, Hatirpool, Dhaka-1205. PABX: +8802-9632245-48. Fax: +8802-9632250, E-mail: [email protected]

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