EC once again seeks law ministry’s response to RPO amendment proposal
An election commission official said they were embarrassed by the ruckus raised by the deputy commissioners and superintendents of police during a meeting, but not too perturbed by it
The Election Commission has sent a letter again to the law ministry to know the progress regarding their proposal to amend certain provisions of the Representation of the People Order (RPO).
Earlier, the EC had sent a proposal to the law ministry to amend some provisions of the RPO on 8 August, but the ministry did not reply to it even after two months. The EC also sent a letter seeking to know the progress in this regard on 28 September, to which the ministry did not respond either.
Consequently, they sent a letter to the ministry for a second time, said the EC in a press release yesterday.
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Meanwhile, a draft has been prepared and sent to the law ministry to bring in some amendments to the rules regarding EVMs in the RPO.
Election Commission officials said the presiding officers sometimes have to activate EVMs with their own fingerprints when the voters cannot access it with their own fingerprints.
Currently, the rules of conduct for parliamentary elections include a provision that allows presiding officers to open EVMs with their fingerprints, but it is not included in the RPO. So, the EC wants to add it to the main law, said officials.
EC embarrassed by ruckus raised by DCs, SPs
The EC was embarrassed by the ruckus raised by the deputy commissioners (DCs) and superintendents of police (SPs) during a meeting, Election Commissioner Rashida Sultana told journalists at the Nirbachan Bhaban yesterday.
The Election Commission held a meeting with 61 DCs and SPs of the country in Dhaka last Saturday to assess the situation regarding the 12th national elections and the zila parishad and Gaibandha by-elections. There was a ruckus when Election Commissioner Md Anisur Rahman raised allegations of biased behavior against administration officials in the polls. In the face of objections from DCs and SPs, he stopped his speech.
Rashida Sultana said, "It was not right for them to create an uproar. I feel a little bad. We are definitely embarrassed because we could not even imagine that such a situation would arise. However we are not too perturbed by what has happened."
She said, "I think they did not like the way the issue was presented. The topics that suddenly created a heated situation were not very untrue. It is not that those things do not exist in our society.
"Reacting to an isolated issue does not mean that they will abdicate their overall responsibility. They said they will act as per the EC directives. I do not believe that they will not cooperate with us for isolated incidents."
No scope for misunderstanding with DCs, SPs: EC Alamgir
Election Commissioner Md Alamgir has said there is no room for animosity towards deputy commissioners (DC) and superintendents of police (SP) while carrying out their duties during an election.
"All of us are employees of the republic. There is no chance of deterioration of relations between us. There is no scope for misunderstanding," the election commissioner told reporters at his office on Monday when asked about the ruckus over Election Commissioner Md Anisur Rahman's comment.
He said, "It is a subtle thing. Our discussion was completed successfully. They listened to our discussion and promised to follow it. We too assured them that we will try our best within our limited capacity to address all the problems they mentioned.
"Those who will fail to carry out their duties will be relieved of their responsibilities. If I cannot play my designated role in the commission, someone else will come and do it."
