Fair election not possible under partisan government: Gono Odikhar Parishad

Member Secretary of Gono Odikhar Parishad and former Ducsu VP Nurul Haque Nur said that it is not possible to hold a free and fair national election under any partisan government.

Terming the Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners Bill anti-people, he said, "The last two election commissions, formed by search committees under the present government, have failed to hold fair elections in the country. Now, it is clear that fair elections are not possible under any party government."

Nurul Huq Nur said this at a press conference at the party's central office at Purana Paltan area in the capital on Saturday.
 
Reading out a written statement at the press conference, he said the bill has been passed in parliament to fulfil the will of the ruling party, without paying heed to the opinion of the opposition members of parliament and political leaders. Moreover, it provides impunity to the formation of the last two controversial election commissions. Such an anti-people law is alarming for a country's democracy.
 
"If the election commission is formed without any political consensus, it will not reflect the opinion of the people. The commission will certainly be like the two previous controversial commissions," Nur said.

"The government should take initiative to hold talks with the representatives of political parties, organisations and civil society to resolve the ongoing political and electoral crisis in the country," he said.

He demanded that the government must reinstate the non-partisan and impartial caretaker government system to ensure a level-playing field that is mandatory for holding a free and fair election.

Commenting on the recent US ban on some Rapid Action Battalion personnel, Gono Odhikar Parishad Convener Reza 
Kibria said, "More sanctions are in the offing, rest assured. Now, not only the government is in danger, but the country also. The government should hold talks with all the opposition parties over how to overcome this danger."
 
Gono Odikhar Parishad's Senior Joint Conveners Rashed Khan and Faruk Hasan, Joint Conveners Saddam Hussein, Sohrab Hossain, Shakiuzzaman and Shahidul Fahim, Senior Joint Member Secretary Ataullah, Joint Conveners Abduz Zaher and Fatema Tasnim, among others, were also present at the press conference.