'Past elections deprived citizens of their vote': Additional secretary urges support for referendum

Additional Secretary of the Ministry of Public Administration Kazi Muhammad Mozammel Haque yesterday (15 January) said people had effectively been deprived of their voting rights over the past 15 years due to irregular and non-participatory elections, and urged voters to support the 2026 referendum to restore public authority over constitutional changes.

Speaking as the chief guest at an awareness meeting on the referendum organised by the Savar upazila administration, he cited his own experience from the 2024 election to illustrate the alleged manipulation of voter turnout figures.

He said he went to a polling centre at around 2pm and was told turnout stood at 7%, a figure uploaded to an official reporting app. "Later, I saw on television that turnout was shown as around 40%," he said, adding that the presiding officer told him no further data had been uploaded after 2pm, despite no voters being present at the centre.

Mozammel Haque said elections in 2014, 2018 and 2024 were marked by voterless polling, night-time voting and manufactured mandates, allowing a "mandate-less parliament" to amend the constitution, including the removal of the caretaker government system.

He said the referendum offered an opportunity to return power to the people and prevent future governments from unilaterally changing fundamental constitutional provisions. A "Yes" vote, he said, would ensure that major constitutional reforms require direct public approval.

He added that the interim government had received a reform mandate through the July uprising and was working to establish a permanent governance framework to avoid repeated political violence. Calling the referendum a rare opportunity, he urged officials and community leaders to encourage voter participation.

The meeting, chaired by Dhaka Deputy Commissioner Md Rezaul Karim, was attended by government officials, teachers, religious leaders and representatives of civil society.