Parties unwilling to join election a major crisis: CEC

The present major crisis regarding the 12th parliamentary elections is that a big portion of the political forces in the country has already made a clear declaration that they will not take part in the polls, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Kazi Habibul Awal said on Monday.

While holding dialogues with four political parties yesterday, he stressed that participation of all major parties is necessary to make the election acceptable.

He called upon the political parties to create a favourable environment for elections through dialogue among themselves.

"We have learned from the media that the BNP and some like-minded parties have decided not to participate in the elections. They have some demands including the one for an election-time government. If something like this does not happen, they will not come to the polls. This has also created uncertainty," he said while attending a dialogue with the Khilafat Majlis yesterday.

The other political parties with which the Election Commission held discussions on the day are Bangladesh Islami Front, Bangladesh Sangskritik Muktijote, and Revolutionary Workers Party of Bangladesh.

At the dialogue with the Bangladesh Islami Front, the CEC said if the BNP can achieve what it wants after reaching an agreement with the Awami League, then the EC cannot have any objection.

"We want acceptable elections. We want to create a favourable environment and level playing field," he added.

"We are calling on the BNP to come to the polls. But we have no comment if their political strategy is different. We have no affection or dislike [for any party]. Political parties have their own independence."

Earlier, in a dialogue with Bangladesh Sangskritik Muktijote, the CEC mentioned that the problem could have been resolved only if Awami League and BNP had held 5-7 meetings.

"But we are not seeing the respected leaders of the Awami League, respected leaders of the BNP sitting together."

Kazi Habibul Awal said that the national polls will be held at the end of December 2023 or at the beginning of January 2024.

Mentioning that holding elections requires a lot of preparation, he said, "A lot of compromises are required. Preparations are being made in the light of laws and regulations from our side."

There should be a representative government, he stressed, adding, "There is no other choice. If the election is not a genuine election, we will never go for staging a drama in the name of vote."

In Monday's discussion with the Election Commission, Saiful Haque, general secretary of the Revolutionary Workers Party, complained that the election system in the country has been destroyed.

In response, the CEC said not only the election system, but many things including politics are rotten.

"Make me the election commissioner of Australia or the United States, I will administer elections with ease. But holding elections here is very difficult. Money influences politics, how will I control it?"

The Election Commission started holding dialogues with the registered political parties on Sunday to decide the procedure for the 12th national elections. The series of dialogues will end on 31 July.

During the dialogues, each party is putting forth their proposals, which the commission will consider later.