WHEN the country is facing a political uncertainty over the polls-time government coupled with the dissatisfactory role of the Election Commission, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) KM Nurul Huda on Tuesday said the Election Commission will do everything necessary to hold free and fair elections. Its sound good but the hollowness of his remarks is also remarkable in the recent city polls across the country when the EC failed to hold free and fair elections. The skeptical role of the EC in settling the allegations raised by opposition political forces, controlling the police, and vote rigging shown by television channels makes us comprehend that fair elections under the political regime could not be possible unless the EC is reconstructed.
News media reported that the CEC made the comment at a meeting with district and regional election officials on preparations for the 11th general election. The incident of Election Commissioner Mahbub Talukder who walked out of a meeting as suggestions he had previously made regarding the upcoming 11th national election was not allowed to be discussed is notable. Mahbub’s suggestions were compiled from a series of dialogues between the commission and the 40 registered political parties, held in a span of three months from July 31 to October 2. The behaviour of the EC with one of its commissioners exposes the lack of EC’s readiness in discussing fair elections, though the upcoming election is already in citizens’ thoughts.
We observed the EC is being run by the whimsical acts of the CEC although the Constitution obliges this institution to be run collectively. The gap between words and actions of the EC has also made the body unreliable for the holding of fair elections. In the debate over using EVM, the CEC once said they have no plan to use EVM in the 11th national polls though he later said the EC wishes to use EVM in 100 constituencies which he revised later as some constituencies. Without calling any bids the procurement process of the EVM is at rates 11 times higher than India, indicating that the EC counts nobody and takes no suggestion except to realize the government wishes. Though many political parties called for deploying army personnel for arranging a level playing field as police are not reliable for their partisan activities, the EC remained mum in this regard. While the allegations rose against the ruling party candidate for breaching electoral codes in the city polls held recently, the EC certified the elections fair without taking any action.
The neutrality of the EC is under doubt and their intend to ensure level playing field and the capacity and courage in using their Constitutional power for holding fair elections are not confirmed to the citizens. We ask the EC to amalgamate the words and actions for holding the fair election as the election is the turning point that can drive the country in positive or negative direction.
