BNP questions EC’s intention to organise free, fair municipal polls

The BNP has cast doubts on the Election Commission’s intent to organise free and fair municipal polls.

The party has claimed that the most probable BNP candidates for the Dec 30 polls are being arrested en masse.

“This election will not be fair if the EC keeps ignoring these large-scale arrests,” party spokesperson Asaduzzaman Ripon said on Tuesday.

But Election Commissioner Zabed Ali has made it clear that the EC has “nothing to do about the arrests”.

The voting at the end of this month will be the first ever local government elections to be held on party lines. Dec 3 is the last date for the submission of nominations. Meanwhile, the EC has turned down the BNP’s proposal to push the election back by 15 days.

On Sunday, a BNP delegation met the chief election commissioner and demanded that its supporters be released from detention. 

CEC Kazi Rakibuddin Ahmad advised the party to “accept the court’s decision”.

Ripon alleged that police had arrested Nandail municipal mayor AFM Azizul Islam “for no reason”.

He claimed 91 BNP activists had been arrested in Pabna, four in Dinajpur, 25 in Satkhira and two more in Netrokona on Monday.

“This election will be rigged,” Ripon alleged. “What sort of election does the EC want to organise?”

Election Commissioner Ali told bdnews24.comthat the issue raised by the BNP was a “judicial matter”.

“We deal with the candidates,” he said. “We can’t do anything if anyone is arrested for criminal offences.”