BNP meets CEC, opposes use of EVM
The BNP wants to hold talks with the Election Commission and propose amendments to the Representation of the People Order (RPO).
The party also submitted a letter to the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) KM Nurul Huda urging the commission not to use Electronic Voting Machines (EVM) in the next general elections.
Stressing the need for amendments to the RPO, the party also expressed its eagerness to hold talks with the CEC to discuss the electoral law.
“The chief election commissioner said that he would send booklets to all concerned people including political parties seeking their opinion in this regard,” BNP standing committee member Nazrul Islam Khan told reporters after holding an hour-long meeting with the CEC at his office in the capital.
A three-member BNP delegation led by Nazrul Islam Khan met the CEC and handed over the letter signed by the party's Secretary General Fakhrul Islam.
When asked about the talks, Chief Election Commissioner KM Nurul Huda told The Daily Star, “We are thinking of holding talks after the Ramadan, probably from July. We are taking preparations, but the issue is yet to be finalised. We will invite all registered political parties followed by other stakeholders.”
Emerging from the meeting, Nazrul Islam Khan told journalists that he told the CEC that many countries across the world have already rejected the EVM method while Bangladesh is going to use it. There is a possibility of digital rigging in the election, he said.
During the talks, the CEC termed the EVM as a new system and said they would not use this system if objection from any quarters is raised, Nazrul said.
Contacted, CEC Huda said that the BNP has submitted a letter to the EC opposing the use of EVM in the polls.
“We told them that we will scrutinise technical aspects of the EVM. We will hold talks with political parties. If the political parties agree, then we will use it. If they do not agree, we will not use it,” he said.
BNP leader Ruhul Kabir Rizvi and Sujauddin were present during the meeting.
BNP TO HOLD PROTEST RALLY ON MAY 24
The BNP has sought permission from the authorities concerned to hold a rally at Suhrawardy Udyan on May 24 protesting the raid on the Gulshan office the party's Chairperson Khaleda Zia.
The party has sent letters to Dhaka Metropolitan Police and Public Works Department on Monday seeking permission to hold the rally on May 24, Ruhul Kabir Rizvi, senior joint secretary general of the party, told The Daily Star.
The decision of holding the protest rally in the capital was taken at a standing committee meeting of the party, held at the BNP chairperson's Gulshan office on Sunday night.
Meanwhile, the BNP in a statement said the party's standing committee members alleged that the police raided the office to serve an “ill intention of the government”.
Police said they raided the office to seize "materials for carrying out anti-state and subversive activities". During their over two-hour-long search they, however, could not find anything of that nature.
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