Level-playing field not ensured for election: Jamaat's Zubair

Any level-playing field is not being ensured for the 13th national election, Jamaat-e-Islami Assistant Secretary General Ahsanul Mahboob Zubair has said.

"The code of conduct is being violated repeatedly. In Dhaka-17, people are holding rallies under the banner of a bankers' association in favour of a national leader. This keeps happening, and there is no level playing field," he said at an emergency press conference at the party's central office in Moghbazar today (4 February).

"We informed the authorities about every incident, but they failed to act." 

He also said they had applied for a time slot on Bangladesh Television (BTV) at 9pm on 9 February, when Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami's ameer would address the nation and speak to the public about the referendum and the election.

Zubair said they were seeing a tendency among some within the Election Commission to lean towards a particular party.

"Many returning officers, superintendents of police and officers-in-charge are showing blatant bias," he said.

"We are demanding necessary action. If proper steps are not taken, The credibility of the election will be questioned," he added.

Jamaat's assistant secretary general said they were filing cases regularly and would share details later. He claimed Jamaat Secretary General Mia Golam Porwar's account was hacked on Tuesday night and that the party was facing repeated cyberattacks.

"Malware from India is being used in what appears to be a planned and large-scale conspiracy to discredit us," he claimed, warning that those involved were preparing to carry out something "dangerous".

He also alleged that a body-camera video of the party's Dhaka-17 candidate was leaked on Tuesday in an attempt to harass him, and claimed that the move was aimed at dragging the army into controversy.

"Our position on this issue has always been clear to the public," he said.