Bringing AL to power again will be the aim of next EC: BNP

Like the outgoing commission, bringing the Awami League (AL) to power again will also be the aim of the next Election Commission (EC) which will be formed on the recommendation of the newly-formed search committee.
 
BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said this at a press conference at the BNP chairperson's Gulshan office in the capital on Tuesday afternoon.
 
The press conference was held to inform the media about the decisions made at the party's standing committee meeting on Monday. BNP standing committee members Gayeshwar Chandra Roy and Iqbal Hasan Mahmud were also present at the press conference.
 
The BNP secretary-general said the standing committee members think that the next EC formed by this search committee will not be able to hold a free, fair and acceptable election as all the members of the committee are directly or indirectly involved with the AL.
 
Fakhrul said Justice Obaidul Hasan, head of the search committee, was the vice-president of Chhatra League's central committee. His younger brother Sajjadul Hasan was the private secretary of the PM. Muhammad Sohul Hossain sought AL's nomination before the 2018 national election. All the other members including Justice SM Quddus Zaman and Public Service Commission Chairman Sohrab Hossain are also associated with AL politics in various ways.
 
In reply to a query over how to hold a free and fair election, the BNP leader said, "We have said thousands of times that because of the present political culture in Bangladesh, it is not possible to hold a free and fair election without a caretaker government. The Awami League consciously abolished the caretaker government system which was in the constitution to bring the electoral system under a party government."
 
Mirza Fakhrul Islam further said, "Today, the EC is not only failing but they are also involved in corruption. It is unbelievable that they bought EVMs from India at a price which is 11 times more than the actual price."
 
In reply to a query over how to get a neutral EC, Gayeshwar Chandra Roy said, "This parliament has to be dissolved to pave the way for a neutral government. They will form the EC and arrange for a fair election."