bdnews24.com :
Election Commissioner Abdul Mobarak has sharply criticized BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia’s remark that the Commission was “loyal to the government”.
The BNP chief has repeatedly said that the EC, headed by Chief Election Commissioner Kazi Rakib Uddin Ahmad, lacked spine and was overly loyal to the government.
The BNP had earlier boycotted the Jan 5 national election organized by the present Election Commission, alleging that the polls would not be free and fair under its management.
The party, however, appeared to change its mind and joined the Upazila Parishad of local government polls.
“Her party is now contesting the election under us,” said Mobarak, who is standing in as the acting CEC while Ahmad is away on a tour abroad.
He said, on Sunday the BNP had no qualms about taking part in an election managed by the EC even while complaining that the body lacked credibility.
He said this against the backdrop of the BNP casting aspersions on the EC’s role in the ongoing Upazila polls.
On Sunday, a day before the fifth phase of Upazila polls, the BNP said it apprehended mass rigging by the ruling Awami League.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina had last month demanded that the BNP chief apologise for going flip-flop on poll participation.
Khaleda had said her party had chosen to join the Upazila polls under the Awami League-led government since it was a local election but had earlier stayed away from the parliamentary poll, demanding a non-party government to oversee it.
The Awami League, which trailed the BNP in the first three phases of the Upazila polls, surged ahead in the fourth round.
Election Commissioner Abdul Mobarak has sharply criticized BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia’s remark that the Commission was “loyal to the government”.
The BNP chief has repeatedly said that the EC, headed by Chief Election Commissioner Kazi Rakib Uddin Ahmad, lacked spine and was overly loyal to the government.
The BNP had earlier boycotted the Jan 5 national election organized by the present Election Commission, alleging that the polls would not be free and fair under its management.
The party, however, appeared to change its mind and joined the Upazila Parishad of local government polls.
“Her party is now contesting the election under us,” said Mobarak, who is standing in as the acting CEC while Ahmad is away on a tour abroad.
He said, on Sunday the BNP had no qualms about taking part in an election managed by the EC even while complaining that the body lacked credibility.
He said this against the backdrop of the BNP casting aspersions on the EC’s role in the ongoing Upazila polls.
On Sunday, a day before the fifth phase of Upazila polls, the BNP said it apprehended mass rigging by the ruling Awami League.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina had last month demanded that the BNP chief apologise for going flip-flop on poll participation.
Khaleda had said her party had chosen to join the Upazila polls under the Awami League-led government since it was a local election but had earlier stayed away from the parliamentary poll, demanding a non-party government to oversee it.
The Awami League, which trailed the BNP in the first three phases of the Upazila polls, surged ahead in the fourth round.
