Sagar Biswas :
Country’s politics is getting momentum now-a-days centering the formation of Election Commission, where one of the BNP nominated candidate has been included in the five-member commission led by Chief Election Commissioner Nurul Huda.
Among the five names BNP had suggested, two, Mahbub Talukdar and Dr Tofael Ahmed, but President Abdul Hamid chose the first one which apparently failed to make BNP happy. Now, BNP demands immediate resignation of the CEC.
The party also fears, it will not possible for the EC to ensure impartiality with this present set-up, when the CEC has an alleged affiliation with the ruling party. Allegation has also been raised against the CEC, who is a former secretary, for keeping relation with the Janatar Mancha.
Expressing severe dissatisfaction, senior joint secretary general of BNP Ruhul Kabir Rizvi on Friday said: “The CEC [Nurul Huda] was an organizer of Janatar Mancha. So far as we assume, one-sided election will be held under his administration…Hearing the statements of CECs [old and new], it seems that some of them are spokesmen of AL and some are party’s unofficial general secretary.”
As per existing law, the EC is a CEC-based organization. So, one BNP-minded commissioner could do a very little where four other commissioners will implement any decision
in majority basis, the BNP leader think. Echoing the same, vice-chairman of BNP Shamshuzzaman Dudu said: “An election commission has been constituted. But no one, except the government, considers it an acceptable one.”
But senior leaders and ministers of ruling Awami League have washed out all criticism about the new EC, saying that BNP is trying to create a chaos centering the issue to gain mere political interest.
“No other political parties except the BNP considered the CEC as an AL man. The fact is that BNP even doesn’t know what it is talking about! Wrong politics and failure in polls and launching movement drove BNP into deep frustration. …The frustrations turned the party into a desperate political party.BNP might commit another accident in politics as it has become desperate like a reckless driver,” AL general secretary and Road and Bridges minister Obaildul Quader said on Friday.
On the other hand, Law Minister Anisul Haq said: “We saw one Aziz Saheb as CEC during BNP’s tenure. He had conducted elections in Magura and Mirpur. People started to distrust EC after the elections. So, the AL will not have to learn how to constitute an EC.”
Besides, Food Minister Kamrul Islam said: “BNP will take part in the next election, whatever it is saying now about the EC.”
The civil society members, however, said that the EC will have to show “work” to achieve people’s trust. They also think, the “favour and disfavour” of Awami League and BNP is nothing but a part of country’s political culture. The main challenge of the EC is to drive away the mistrust of general people.
“The dispute between the two parties [AN and BNP] is a part of our political culture. It is too early to make any comment about the EC,” Sushasoner Jonno Nagorik [Sujan] Secretary Dr Badiul alam Majumder said.
Expressing almost same views, Transparency International executive director Dr Iftekheruzzaman said: “People have lack of confidence over the electoral system. It will be the main challenge of Huda commission to overcome the situation. The EC will have to make itself acceptable among the political parties to prove it’s sincerity.”
Country’s politics is getting momentum now-a-days centering the formation of Election Commission, where one of the BNP nominated candidate has been included in the five-member commission led by Chief Election Commissioner Nurul Huda.
Among the five names BNP had suggested, two, Mahbub Talukdar and Dr Tofael Ahmed, but President Abdul Hamid chose the first one which apparently failed to make BNP happy. Now, BNP demands immediate resignation of the CEC.
The party also fears, it will not possible for the EC to ensure impartiality with this present set-up, when the CEC has an alleged affiliation with the ruling party. Allegation has also been raised against the CEC, who is a former secretary, for keeping relation with the Janatar Mancha.
Expressing severe dissatisfaction, senior joint secretary general of BNP Ruhul Kabir Rizvi on Friday said: “The CEC [Nurul Huda] was an organizer of Janatar Mancha. So far as we assume, one-sided election will be held under his administration…Hearing the statements of CECs [old and new], it seems that some of them are spokesmen of AL and some are party’s unofficial general secretary.”
As per existing law, the EC is a CEC-based organization. So, one BNP-minded commissioner could do a very little where four other commissioners will implement any decision
in majority basis, the BNP leader think. Echoing the same, vice-chairman of BNP Shamshuzzaman Dudu said: “An election commission has been constituted. But no one, except the government, considers it an acceptable one.”
But senior leaders and ministers of ruling Awami League have washed out all criticism about the new EC, saying that BNP is trying to create a chaos centering the issue to gain mere political interest.
“No other political parties except the BNP considered the CEC as an AL man. The fact is that BNP even doesn’t know what it is talking about! Wrong politics and failure in polls and launching movement drove BNP into deep frustration. …The frustrations turned the party into a desperate political party.BNP might commit another accident in politics as it has become desperate like a reckless driver,” AL general secretary and Road and Bridges minister Obaildul Quader said on Friday.
On the other hand, Law Minister Anisul Haq said: “We saw one Aziz Saheb as CEC during BNP’s tenure. He had conducted elections in Magura and Mirpur. People started to distrust EC after the elections. So, the AL will not have to learn how to constitute an EC.”
Besides, Food Minister Kamrul Islam said: “BNP will take part in the next election, whatever it is saying now about the EC.”
The civil society members, however, said that the EC will have to show “work” to achieve people’s trust. They also think, the “favour and disfavour” of Awami League and BNP is nothing but a part of country’s political culture. The main challenge of the EC is to drive away the mistrust of general people.
“The dispute between the two parties [AN and BNP] is a part of our political culture. It is too early to make any comment about the EC,” Sushasoner Jonno Nagorik [Sujan] Secretary Dr Badiul alam Majumder said.
Expressing almost same views, Transparency International executive director Dr Iftekheruzzaman said: “People have lack of confidence over the electoral system. It will be the main challenge of Huda commission to overcome the situation. The EC will have to make itself acceptable among the political parties to prove it’s sincerity.”
