Election in ICU, democracy on life support: EC Mahbub

The election system of the country seems to be in the incentive care unit (ICU) and thus democracy is now on life support as a side effect of that, Election Commissioner (EC) Mahbub Talukder said today.

The election commissioner used the metaphor to describe how he feels is the current situation of elections and democracy in the country.

In a written statement on Sunday, EC Mahbub Talukder said the intolerant attitude of the major political parties in the country has brought democracy to an end.

"We want to bring democracy back to normalcy at any cost to establish multi-party democracy. For this, united efforts are required irrespective of party affiliation," Mahbub said.

He further said, "As the ongoing term of the Election Commission expires, I am getting more and more worried about the electoral system and situation."

"Despite having constitutional obligation to form the Election Commission as per law, the law has not been enacted even in last 50 years," he added. 

The election commissioner further added: "Although the law is required to reform the electoral process, it is not enough.  Unilateral law will not help, it only paves the way for one-party rule. The sooner the matter is resolved, the better for the country. Otherwise, there is a possibility of anarchy in the country."

Commenting on recent union parishad elections, Mahbub Talukder said, "It would not be an exaggeration to call this year's UP polls a blood-stained election. 39 people have been killed in poll-related violence. Maybe I have failed to deliver the message that life is more valuable than election."

Mentioning that 80 chairman candidates were elected uncontested in recently held UP elections, the election commissioner said, "This cannot be called an election. Where there is no competition, there is no election."