The attitude of the Chief Election Commissioner K M Nurul Huda is apparently clear to us for not agreeing to defer the by-election in three parliamentary constituencies and election to Chattogram city despite reports of spreading coronavirus.
In the first place the presence of voters that needed for our kind of elections is very less important. Secondly, the government itself has not yet taken virus crisis seriously.
In many other countries, including the USA, the Presidents and Prime Ministers are appearing frequently at press conferences nearly everyday to explain government measures and also giving guidelines for the safety of the people.
We do not have our government feeling the necessity of narrating how they are performing to save the people’s lives. They have no time.
By-elections to Dhaka-10, Bagerhat-4 and Gaibandha-3 constituencies are set for March 21 while the Chattogram city will go to polls on March 29.
Addressing a law and order meeting recently on Dhaka-10 by-elections at Electoral Training Institute, the CEC admitted that the country’s people are frightened of coronavirus, and the Commission is also concerned about the situation.
Yet the same Commission is unwilling to defer the polls. Instead the CEC added that the candidates and others concerned were instructed to conduct electioneering avoiding public gatherings.
When the entire nation is worried, when students can’t go to schools or people can’t even go to watch movies then why the Election Commission feels strongly not to delay in holding of the elections?
The answer is simple. Elections are not for the people and EC is not control of elections.
Standing in line for casting vote is itself a public gathering — exactly the sort of thing that the EC has specifically excluded when electioneering. So how is it that what was banned during the election campaign is allowed on the day of the election?
The CEC can say this because he knows voters are not needed in our present trend of elections. There will be money flow available, if polls are held. So, the sooner the better. Why money should wait?
We do not want to be misunderstood. We also give no importance to voter-less elections. So we also find no justification for delaying the farcical election for the calamity of coronavirus. To them other people’s lives are not important.
But it must be said the people do not want to get medical advice from the CEC that the coronavirus will not spread in Bangladesh. Like strange model of election, he finds a model virus resistance among our people.
