Democracy missing in polls, only its corpse remains: EC Mahbub Talukder

Democracy is missing in recent Union Parishad (UP) polls and only its corpse is lying on the ground, said Election Commissioner Mahbub Talukder of the outgoing Election Commission (EC) on Monday.

"One might even ask how candidates get elected unopposed in any election at all," said Talukder.

He made the remarks on Monday during a press conference held at the EC office in the capital.

In the recent UP polls, marred with violence, boycott and allegations of vote-rigging, around 1700 candidates, including chairmen, members of reserved seats and general members, were elected unopposed.

Widespread violence in the election, which was conducted in eight phases in 4,120 UPs from 21 June 2021 to 10 February 2022, has left more than 110 people dead and thousands injured across the country.

"Such clashes in the name of the election were never expected. Clashes at the grass root-level elections indicative of the possibility of violence in future polls," he added.

He said that the biggest weakness of the EC has been the lack of action against the allegations of irregularities, and partiality of those affiliated with the polls. He, however, added that there have been a few exceptions to that in the last few months.

"I don't think whatever I said regarding elections in the last five years has made any difference," he said.

"I have said before that an EC formation law was a must. However, if the law isn't acceptable to all political parties the crisis will not be solved," he further said, adding, "But as an optimistic person, I would like to see the crisis end."

Mahbub Talukder said that from the UP election to the parliamentary elections, people's will did not reflect.

When asked about the allegations of being a "spokesperson" for BNP, Mahbub Talukder said that he did not understand the language of the BNP.

"I do not speak in the tone of BNP. However, I have always spoken to the commission as the spokesperson of the people," he replied.

He also warned about the growing influence of businessmen on politics.

"Politics is gradually coming under the sway of businessmen," he observed.

According to Talukder, to ensure a fair and nonpartisan election, the system has to be changed, which might even require changes in the law and the constitution.

Five years ago, the EC headed by KM Nurul Huda was appointed. At that time, the President appointed five election commissioners including Mahbub Talukder from the search committee recommended names.

The internal conflict of the EC was revealed through Mahbub Talukder's criticism of the commission. Mahbub Talukder did not attend the last briefing of the CEC on the last working day of their term.