BNP not interested in newly formed EC: Fakhrul

The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) does not have any interest in the newly formed Election Commission, party Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir has said.

"We have said before and we are still making it clear that not only the Election Commission but the Awami League will do everything with their own people. The Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners are not meaningful to us, we have no interest in the Election Commission," Fakhrul said in an instant reaction after the President formed the commission on Thursday.

BNP had boycotted the dialogue with President Md Abdul Hamid on the formation of the new Election Commission.

Even the party did not send names to the search committee terming that forming an election commission is completely meaningless as it thinks a neutral, fair and acceptable election cannot be held under the Awami League-led government. 

The BNP secretary general earlier said that like the previous commission, bringing the Awami League to power again will be the aim of the next Election Commission.

President Abdul Hamid appointed Kazi Habibul Awal as the Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners on Saturday (26 February), a day after the EC search committee submitted the shortlist of candidates.  

Other members of the commission are former District and Session Judge Begum Rashida Sultana, former Brigadier General Ahsan Habib Khan, former Senior Secretary Md Alamgir and former Senior Secretary Anisur Rahman.