Staff Reporter :
The Left Democratic Alliance on Wednesday opposed plans for using Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) in the upcoming election, saying it will be an instrument of rigging. The Alliance leaders also demanded for forming a non-party election time government.
“The government is planning to manipulate the election through using EVM in one-third of the total polling centers,” Mujahidul Islam Selim, President of Communist Party of Bangladesh (CPB), a major component of the alliance, said it in a press briefing yesterday.
“We demand withdrawal of the plan, as the EVM system is not transparent and acceptable to many political parties,” he said.
He said: “We want a free and fair election under an election-time neutral caretaker government as country’s history says no election under a political government was ever fair and free.”
In order to ensure a neutral election-time government, he said, the constitution should be amended; otherwise, the country may plunge into a”deep crisis”.
Formed in July, the alliance of eight left-leaning parties, including Communist Party of Bangladesh (CPB), Bangladesh Workers’ Party, and Ganosanghati Andolan, also demanded resignation of the incumbent government, dissolution of the Parliament, forming of a non-party election time government, and reconstruction of the Election Commission before the election schedule.
Alliance Coordinator Saiful Haq announced their future programme at the press conference at Mukti Bhaban, headquarters of CPB, which includes seminars, view exchange meetings, and rallies in September and October.
