CEC Huda says 11th parliamentary polls should go to record book for fairness

The chief election commissioner has remarked that no elections in the past were as fair in Bangladesh as the 11th parliamentary elections which his team organised despite question marks about the latest vote.

"I will not say that those (clashes) took place surrounding the elections. Most of those happened outside the polling stations,” KM Nurul Huda told a meeting at the Nirbachan Bhaban on Monday.

"Yet, the 11th parliamentary polls set an example in the aspects of free and fairness. I can claim it publicly," he added.

The meeting was organised for coordination among law-enforcing agencies ahead of the Dhaka city corporation and Upazila council polls.

Huda expects the atmosphere will be the same during the polls to the local government bodies.

Soon after the Dec 30 general election, the BNP’s opposition alliance Jatiya Oikya Front alleged vote rigging aided by the Election Commission, law enforcement and local administrations.

The Western countries, including the United States, had demanded a fair investigation into the irregularities and violence in the elections.

Comparing the Dec 30 polls to previous elections, the CEC said, "Violence that occurred in the 2014 elections was absent in the 11th parliamentary polls, though some incidents happened and five reportedly died. The EC was shocked at the casualties."

Huda, however, brushed aside the allegations that polling agents of opposition parties were driven out from the voting centres.

He claimed many agents left the centres after sensing defeat of their candidates while many candidates could not even assign any polling agent.

The CEC praised the role of the law-enforcing agencies in checking untoward incidents during the general election and asked for the same vigilance in the upcoming elections.

The by-elections to Dhaka North mayor’s office and elections to some new wards of Dhaka North and South will be held on Feb 28. The staggered elections to around 500 Upazilas will start on Mar 10.