UNB, Dhaka :Former Election Commissioner Shakhawat Hossain on Monday said now there is no environment in the country to arrange local government elections under the banners of political parties.”It’s not irrational, but there’s no environment right now. You’ll have to create the atmosphere,” he said while addressing a discussion at the city’s Cirdap auditorium.The Election Working Group (EWG), a coalition of 28 non-government organisations, arranged the roundtable discussion titled ‘The State of Elections in Bangladesh’. Shakhawat said the government’s move to make the local body elections partisan ones came without discussions with anyone. “It’ll create a problem. Nomination business will increase at the grassroots level as well.”The Cabinet on October 12 approved amendment proposals to some laws for holing all local elections on party lines. About illegal use of money in elections, Shakhawat said, controlling money use is a very difficult job as evidence is hardly found about that. “It’s the biggest problem also in India despite having a monitoring committee there.”Contd on page-11- Col-3Candidates transfer money through fexiload, bkash and many other channels, and even pay the dues and small loans of voters they owe to local grocery shops and banks, he added. Country Representative of the Asia Foundation Hasan M Mazumder also spoke at the programme, moderated by EWG steering committee member Prof Nazmul Ahsan Kalimullah.EWG Director Dr Md Abdul Alim presented the keynote paper on the state of elections in Bangladesh.
