Jamaat alleges election officials, law enforcers biased towards a party

Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami today (21 January) alleged that sections of law enforcement agencies and election-related field officials are showing bias in favour of a particular political party, raising concerns over the neutrality of the electoral process.

"We are still seeing that a section of law enforcement agencies and those involved in election management are acting in a biased manner," said Ehsanul Mahbub Zubair, Jamaat-e-Islami assistant secretary general and head of the party's central publicity and media department. 

He was speaking to reporters after receiving the party's electoral symbol ¬"scales" from the office of the returning officer for the Dhaka-15 constituency in Agargaon.

"Officials responsible for ensuring a level playing field appear to be leaning towards a particular party," he said.

Ehsanul Mahbub said the party has formally drawn the Election Commission's attention to the issue and warned that Jamaat may publicly disclose the names of officials accused of bias if corrective measures are not taken.

"If the commission does not ensure their neutrality or take appropriate action, we will be compelled to make the list of such officials public. It will then be our responsibility to inform the people," he said.

Expressing concern over the overall election environment, he said Jamaat hopes the polls will be fair, peaceful and free from fear and violence, but claimed incidents of attacks and harassment against party leaders and activists are continuing in different areas.

"An incident occurred in the Dhaka-15 constituency just yesterday. We have informed both the Election Commission and the returning officer," he added.

He urged law enforcement agencies and election officials deployed in the field to act impartially and take effective steps to prevent such incidents ahead of the polls.