Voting takes place on night before election, even I sanctioned it too: JaPa GS Chunnu

Jatiya Party (JaPa) General Secretary Mujibul Haque Chunnu raised the issue of filling ballot boxes with votes on the night before the 11st national election saying he has himself has sanctioned such activities.

He made the statement during a dialogue with the Election Commission (EC) on Sunday (31 July).

MP Chunnu said, "We are proposing that the ballot paper be delivered on the morning of the election day. This way there would not be any issue of filling ballot boxes the night before. What can I say, even I have allowed such activities. It is not right."

"Communication in all areas has improved, so, it is possible to deliver the ballot in the morning", he added.

The Jatiya Party strongly opposed voting with EVMs (electronic voting machine), he stated.

"The people of the country, including their party, do not have confidence in EVMs," said Chunnu adding that there is no justification for using EVMs in parliamentary elections.

The party has also said that they will not participate in the upcoming Gaibandha-5 seat by-election if votes are cast using EVM. However, CEC Qazi Habibul Awal did not comment on EVM yet.

Chunnu also demanded that the Gaibandha-5 by-polls is done through ballots to elect a candidate for the seat that became empty with the death of Deputy Speaker Fazle Rabbi.

Jatiya Party presidium member Syed Abu Hossain Babla said, "EVMs is a very difficult system. Many countries have abolished the use of EVMs."

Presidium member Shafiqul Islam Sentu described the experience of using EVM in his election and said that the machine broke down within 10 minutes of voting.

Addressing the EC, he said, will you fix it if the EVM breaks down while voting during the national elections?

Besides, the Jatiya Party proposed voting in a proportional representation system.

They also proposed to raise the election expenditure limit for each candidate to Tk50 lakh from the existing Tk25 lakh.

JaPa also proposed a few changes to the Representation of the People Order (RPO) during the meeting.

They proposed that a law should be formed so that if employees working under the Election Commission disobey any directive of the commission, the commission can take disciplinary action on its own without sending it to the concerned department.

The existing provision of cancellation of candidature for utility bills, credit card bills should be repealed, said the JaPa proposal.

The party also proposed that, retired government employees, who are now contractual appointees in state-owned, partially state-owned, or autonomous institutions will not be eligible for election.