The Election Commission [EC] has come up with observation that its “tactical default” and “non-cooperation of political parties” were the main reasons behind the failure to check bloody violence during the recently concluded upazila elections across the country.
The EC made this observation over the recently held Upazila polls that were marked by widespread clashes, arson and vandalism at a press conference at the EC’s Media Centre at Sher-e-Bangla Nagar in the city on Tuesday.
“The first default behind the massive violence was announcement of electoral results from the very beginning, although the polls were held in five phases. The next phases of elections were highly influenced due to declaration of polls results of earlier phase,” said Election Commissioner Md Abu Hafiz, in a written statement on behalf of the Commission.
In fact, the EC said, it was not possible to keep secret the voting result till the ending of all phases due to legal bindings and practical ground.
The second reason for the violence, the statement said, “Both the ruling and opposition parties had conducted the elections under the banner of political parties, although the local government elections were supposed to be held in a non-partisan manner. Here, the January 5 election result also played a partial role.”
“It is not possible to hold a free, fair, credible and non-violence election without the active support of the political parties and running contenders. The EC did not get any sort of cooperation from the political parties and other concerned sections in this regard,” added the statement, pointing out it as the third reason behind the poll violence.
“The final observation of EC is that cooperation of all political parties, support of media and active role of court are very much essential for holding an acceptable and fair election. The political parties should be more democratic in practice,” it said.
Turning down the criticism of different quarters about the ‘failure of Commission’, the statement said: “The EC is a Constitutional body. Anyone can try to know its activities and anybody can criticize the Commission if there is any fault. But the criticism must be made in a constructive way, which will help correct our wrongs. Some people want our resignation. But there is a legal procedure to tender our resignations.”
About the violence, the Commission said, “We have started a massive investigation about the incidents of violence. Already an inquiry committee has been formed in this regard. The Commission has also sent letters to different stations. We will go for tough action soon after the inquiry committee submits its report.”
The EC has conducted elections in 458 upazilas across the country in five phases where Awami League -backed candidates took a lead in the battle of ballots.
The Commission will hold elections in 19 polling centres today [Wednesday], which were withheld due to violence in fourth and fifth phases. The centres are situated in five upazilas — Kanaighat of Sylhet, Borura of Comilla, Kutubdia of Cox’s Bazar, Dumki of Patuakhali and Gazaria of Munshiganj.
