EC determined to make next JS polls results acceptable to all: Law minister

The Election Commission (EC) is determined to ensure that the 12th parliamentary election results are acceptable to all voters and most political parties, said Law Minister Anisul Huq in parliament on Thursday.

"The commission has taken it as a challenge to hold the upcoming general election in a transparent, free, fair, neutral and peaceful manner. In order to make the election free, fair, impartial and acceptable, the Election Commission has firmly taken various decisions and necessary steps in advance," said Anisul Huq, the minister responsible for the Election Commission's parliamentary activities, replying to a tabled question from Mokabbir Khan, a Gonoforum leader elected from Sylhet-2 constituency.

EC Action Plan

• Not lodging cases for harassment by any govt agency
• Preventing attacks on contesting candidates, supporters
• Taking prompt action as per law in case of any attack by rival candidates
• Recovering illegal arms, ensuring deposition of legal ones before election
• Proposal to allow all political parties to carry out electioneering freely
• Appointing qualified, impartial polling officers and executive and judicial magistrates to strictly enforce electoral code of conduct
• Taking all necessary lawful decisions including appointment of local and foreign observers

Mokabbir Khan asked, "Does the current Election Commission have any special plan to make the upcoming 12th National elections a free, fair, neutral and acceptable without being subservient to the government like the past election commissions?"

Anisul Huq said the Election Commission's decisions to ensure free and fair election include – not lodging cases for harassment by any government agency; preventing attack on contesting candidates, supporters, their houses and business establishments by rival candidates and supporters, and in case of such attack, taking prompt action as per law; and recovering illegal arms and ensuring deposition of legal arms before the election.

The other decisions include making proposals to the government so that all political parties can carry out electioneering freely; implementing the recommendations made by the majority in accordance with the Constitution and electoral laws during view-exchange meetings with noted citizens and political parties; appointing qualified and impartial polling officers; and taking all lawful necessary decisions including the appointment of local and foreign election observers, said the minister.

A number of other decisions in this regard are – holding meetings with the heads of various ministries, divisions, departments and law enforcement agencies of the government, which are involved in the elections, and giving directives to take necessary steps to ensure that they carry out their responsibilities sincerely and impartially in the election; deploying an adequate number of law enforcement agencies to maintain the conducive environment in polling stations and the constituencies; appointing executive and judicial magistrates to strictly enforce the electoral code of conduct and taking legal action against any violators of the electoral code of conduct; and bringing necessary amendments to the Representation of the People Order and the electoral conduct rules, he added.

The law minister said since there is an obligation to hold the upcoming 12th parliamentary election by 29 January 2024, the Election Commission has taken an action plan to this end.

In order to keep the election process transparent, the Election Commission has decided to publish all the activities related to the election on the website for everyone, to appoint a sufficient number of local and foreign observers as well to provide scopes for electronic and print media to garner news information freely, he said.

In a bid to conduct the upcoming 12th national election in an impartial and fair manner, the Election Commission shall treat all candidates equally, appoint more qualified officers of the Election Commission as returning officers, appoint neutral assistant presiding officers and presiding officers, relieve biased election officers and take prompt actions against the violators of election laws and codes, he said.

The EC made the action plan public last year in their 12th National Parliament Election Roadmap, where the body mentioned their 14-point challenges and 19-point ways out. The law minister reiterated some of the measures mentioned in that roadmap in the parliament yesterday.

Regarding the Election Commission's work plan and the law minister's speech in Parliament, BNP Standing Committee Member Dr Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain told TBS, "Currently, we do not bother with such speeches. The words of the Election Commission or the Awami League's roadmap are worthless to us. So, we do not want to hear these things. I do not even want to know about them. We will hold elections on the day we can vote."

Addressing the government in a meeting yesterday, BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said, "There is no alternative to a non-partisan government during the elections. So resign first. Then we will see how to do that [forming a caretaker government]. People of the country know that. Our only demand is a non-party government – no matter what you name it."