Dialogues to produce roadmap for next general election: CEC

The Election Commission (EC) will prepare a roadmap for the forthcoming 12th parliamentary election utilising the outcome of a series of dialogue with stakeholders, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Kazi Habibul Awal said at the beginning of the parley on Sunday.

"Some elections in the recent past have not been participatory. Allegations were made in this regard. So, we are taking everyone's opinion to make the next election more participatory and acceptable," he said before attending the commission's first dialogue with educationists.

In the meeting held at the commission's Agargaon office, the CEC said it would be difficult to hold a good election if there was no consensus among political parties.

"Holding a good election does not depend entirely on the Election Commission. It will be difficult for us to hold a good election if stakeholders do not come forward equally and the political atmosphere is not congenial," he added.  

The Election Commission had invited 30 academics to its first round of dialogue but only 13 of them participated. The EC will hold dialogues with representatives of different professions in phases. Dialogues will be held later with the political parties registered with the commission. After that, the EC will finalise the action plan for the 12th parliamentary election.

The CEC said, "I see some political parties are not keeping trust in the Election Commission in any way. Participatory elections are not possible if they abstain. Then the acceptability of the election will go down a bit."

There will be no lack of goodwill of the commission for holding inclusive elections, he said, but a lack of capacity can have an impact on the election process.

In the dialogue, Professor Yahya of the Chittagong University, referring to the commission, said "You cannot make good choices in the current system. Either compromise with the parties or leave with the same responsibilities as the previous commission."

"Another thing you can do is resign and save your face. We have amended the constitution 17 times. It would not make major harm to the constitution had there been a caretaker government provision by another amendment," he added.

Stating it would not be right to use electronic voting machines (EVMs) in any centre in the next elections, he said, "Voters in our country are not technology conscious."

Professor Muhammed Zafar Iqbal, a noted educationist and writer, said "EVM is said to be a very high-level technology. It is not true. This is a very low-level technology. Now there are many high-tech accessories."

Addressing the EC, he said, "No matter how well you do, you will have to hear abusive words. So don't think about bad words. You have to work in such a way so, standing in front of a mirror, you can say to yourself `I have done the job properly'."

After the meeting, Zafar Iqbal told reporters everyone has emphasised institutionalising democracy. To make it happen, everyone has to come here and participate in the process.

"What we are seeing at the moment is not everyone is coming here. Consensus is needed to bring everyone together," he added.

Emerging from the meeting, Professor Sadeka Halim of Dhaka University said, "We have said that the next election should be transparent, accountable and participatory."

The educationist said everyone has put importance on maintaining balance with the executive branch because the political party in power will be there during the upcoming elections.

"There will be MPs, ministers and even the prime minister in power and everyone has emphasised the issue of holding a transparent election in this reality," she added. 

On 26 February, President Abdul Hamid appointed the EC headed by Kazi Habibul Awal. The commission took the oath on 27 February and joined the office the following day.