The Election Commission (EC) will hold an electoral dialogue with journalists and media personalities on August 16 and 17 as a part of its election roadmap.

READ MORE: Civil Society Talks with EC: Call for army in polls, 'no vote' system

“Talks with journalists from online and television channels will be held on August 16 while with print journalists and media personalities on August 17,” EC Secretary Muhammad Helal Uddin Ahmed told The Daily Star today.

The dialogue is likely to begin at 11:00am at the EC Secretariat in Dhaka, he added.

The EC earlier had invited 59 civil society members to join the talks in which 35 participated while some others expressed their inability to attend for personal reasons.

In the talks, most civil society members spoke for restoring “no vote” system and ensuring a level-playing field for all political parties to hold the next election in a free, fair and participatory manner.

The newly appointed Chinese ambassador, Zhang Zuo, today said that there is no quick solution to Rohingya crisis.

Zhang Zuo said this while addressing journalists for the first time at a press briefing held at the Chinese embassy in Dhaka this afternoon.

Some seven lakh Rohingyas fled persecution in Myanmar and entered Bangladesh following a military crackdown on them in Rakhine since August 25 last year.

The Chinese ambassador said that his country hopes next parliamentary election in Bangladesh will be smooth.

Zuo replaced Ma Mingqiang, who completed his tenure in Bangladesh and already left the country for his new assignment.

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TREES, HILLS RAZED by ROHINGYAS

Zuo was born in February 1969 in Xuanwei County of Yunnan Province. He has a PhD in Management, according to the official website of the Chinese embassy.

Diplomatic sources said the newly-appointed Chinese ambassador (designated) to Bangladesh arrived in Dhaka on February 12 and presented copy of this credentials to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on February 14.

Ambassador Ma left Dhaka in December late to attend envoys conference in Beijing but he did not return to Dhaka for his farewell meetings with the president, prime minister, foreign minister and others.

Chinese embassy in Dhaka had earlier fixed the appointments, but the outgoing ambassador did not return to Dhaka, added the sources.

The BNP will not participate in the upcoming upazila polls as per its previous decision, but it has two different thoughts on the elections.

The party's first thought is to boycott the polls to make sure the turnout of voters remains low like it happened in the January 7 national polls. The BNP also mulls over not being harsh on the party leaders who would participate in the local government polls, said party sources.

They said the party high-ups will observe the situation for a few days. If the grassroots leaders want to run in the polls as independents, they will not be stopped or expelled.

The ruling Awami League on Monday decided that it would not allow its leaders to use its electoral symbol "boat" in the upazila elections.

After the announcement, The Daily Star talked with some central and upazila-level BNP leaders to know their views on the upazila election.

The BNP has been staying away from all polls since 2019 and it expelled the leaders who contested elections going against the party's decision.

Many party leaders are in favour of contesting the upazila polls. They believe as senior party leaders, including Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, may walk out of jail on bail before the announcement of the polls schedule, the issue may be discussed seriously then.

"What will be our achievement through boycotting the polls if we cannot ensure a poor turnout?"

— An upazila-level BNP leader

The upazila polls issue was discussed recently in the party's standing committee meeting, but no decision was made, said party insiders, adding that the opinion of the grassroots leaders will also be taken into consideration.

"We are yet to discuss the issue in the party forum [after the Awami League's decision], but one thing is certain: people have no confidence in any election held under a partisan government," Goyeshwar Chandra Roy, a standing committee member of the BNP, told The Daily Star yesterday.

Another standing committee member said people boycotted the parliamentary polls in response to the BNP's call and that's why the party cannot run in the upazila election.

"If the BNP contests the polls, it may send a wrong message to the people as well. Many of the party men are still behind bars. If the party announces that it will run, fresh arrests may be made," said BNP leader Anwarul Huq, also a former chairman of Noakhali's Sonaimuri upazila.

Another senior BNP leader said the AL may adopt the strategy of fielding "dummy candidates" like it did in the national polls to ensure a festive polls atmosphere.

"If the party grassroots don't show any interest in contesting the upazila elections, then the party may call upon the people to boycott the polls," he told this correspondent wishing anonymity.

Party leaders said the upazila chairmen and vice chairmen candidates usually maintain close communication with the local people and that's why turnouts in the local government elections always remain high.

Besides, people also consider many local issues in the local government polls for which the BNP will find it difficult to keep the turnout low, they observed.

"What will be our achievement through boycotting the polls if we cannot ensure a poor turnout?" said an upazila-level BNP leader.

He argued if the BNP joins the elections, the party candidates would come under attacks, which in turn could expose the government's intention and justify the BNP's decision of boycotting the parliamentary elections.

BNP Senior Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi yesterday at a press briefing at the party's Nayapaltan central office said no election under Sheikh Hasina will be fair, credible, and peaceful.

"So, the BNP had decided not to participate in any elections under Sheikh Hasina. The party still stands by that decision," he added.

Since the Awami League's fourth consecutive victory in what appeared to be an essentially one-sided election, much of the discussion has centred on the future trajectory of politics and the potential impact on business and the economy. A crucial institution—the Election Commission (EC)—should not skip a closer scrutiny of its role in staging the election, which allowed the ruling party to manipulate the system adeptly and walk away unchallenged. During an event on January 18, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Kazi Habibul Awal, without taking any responsibility, finally acknowledged that people's confidence in the electoral system has declined.

The CEC's realisations that the election was not sufficiently participatory and that "the crisis still remains as the polls (have) not been acceptable to some parties" make us wonder how he could still claim that "the nation could overcome a crisis through this election"? His remarks at the thanks-giving event at the commission indicate that they are struggling to reconcile with the facts that the election they conducted fell far short of the threshold of a democratic exercise. Putting together his admission of "not participatory enough" with his previous assertion that if one percent vote was cast, the polls would get legality but not legitimacy, one can easily deduce that this election's legitimacy is in question.

The EC's attempts to portray the election as participatory and fair seem to have been more focused on appearance than on genuine efforts to achieve these goals. For instance, sending an invitation letter to the deserted and locked BNP office—instead of ensuring an enabling environment—appeared to be a mere public relations stunt. The cancellation of one sitting MP's candidature for violating electoral code served as a diversion from the EC's inaction in numerous other violations.

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‘A setback for US-Bangladesh relations’

The Transparency International Bangladesh's (TIB) 12th National Parliament Election Process Tracking report, published last week, sheds light on the EC's failures. One of the most crucial observations by TIB is, "The Election Commission, sometimes by compulsion in the name of Constitutional and legal compulsion and on occasions by design, played the role of a key catalyst for the realization of the agenda of the one-sided election. Other state institutions, especially law enforcement agencies and administration were also used to play, or played the same role in similar ways." The report outlines the EC's failures throughout the pre-election phase, the campaign phase, and the actual election period. The pre-election phase included voter registration, redrawing of constituencies, registration of new political parties, making changes in the Representation of the People Order (RPO), holding dialogue as part of its confidence-building exercise, registrations of local and foreign observers, role of political parties, schedule announcement, and submission of nominations and scrutinisation of their validity. Unfortunately, each of those acts stoked new controversies and raised questions about the EC's mandated neutrality and independence. Its handling of observers—international observers, in particular—is a pretty shocking example of its complicity with the government. It has allowed fake foreign observers despite our earlier warnings about it and reminders of instances during the 2018 election.

Though ministers have lambasted TIB by comparing it as a front of the opposition BNP, its research on 50 constituencies, spread throughout eight divisions and 41 districts, is quite extensive and covers all kinds of irregularities and violations of electoral rules and code of conduct. The findings, which align with reports from national and international media, challenge the credibility of the election.

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The guilt that comes with voting at a farcical election

It's not only the mainstream media. Social media platforms, too, are awash with videos exposing irregularities, including ballot stuffing, children casting votes, creation of fake queues in the presence of foreign media and observers, and polling agents being forced out. This evidence further underscores the need for a thorough examination of the EC's role. Had the EC installed CCTV cameras at the polling stations instead of spending so much energy on its electronic voting machine (EVM) project, which was eventually abandoned due to a lack of funding, it could have managed the polls a little better. As statements made by losing nominees of the ruling Awami League and its allies, including some top politicians, also supplemented TIBs findings, one might wonder whether Obaidul Quader would call them BNP spokespersons as well.

In the absence of real competition and given the opposition's boycott, both the ruling party and the EC focused their attention on ensuring at least 50 percent voter turnout. The sudden and mysterious rise of turnout figures in the last hour of election day, which otherwise seems improbable, raised strong suspicion that it was yet another act by the EC to assist the ruling party to make the election appear reasonably participatory.

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A review of the 2024 electoral drama

With election expert groups from the European Union and the IRI-NDI of the United States seeking access to detailed data on voter turnout, questions surrounding the credibility of the election persist. Despite its promise to give a turnout figure every two hours on the polling day through its Smart Election Management app, which had cost a staggering Tk 21 crore, the EC failed miserably. Later, CEC Awal was quoted by some media saying that he heard the app had been hacked. It sounds like a very convenient coincidence that further complicates the mystery of a sudden spike in voting figures.

The Election Commission is reportedly taking an initiative to have an upazila election in March. When the chief of this constitutional body admits that people's confidence in the country's electoral process has decreased, moving ahead with another nationwide election without addressing the deep-rooted issues with the last would invite more questions. Without a national dialogue to establish an acceptable election management mechanism, these elections may only strengthen the ruling party's grip over the local government structure.

Kamal Ahmed is an independent journalist. His X handle is @ahmedka1

Views expressed in this article are the author's own.

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Prime Minister and Awami League President Sheikh Hasina today said no one could survive in Bangladesh politics if they follow the suggestion of their backers, in an apparent reference to BNP.

"BNP was out to foil the national election [held on January 7]. They have some backers. They don't know the Bangladesh people. It will not be possible to survive in Bangladesh following backers' advice," she said.

The premier said this as the Awami League (AL) leaders and activists gathered at the Gono Bhaban to wish her on her party's landslide victory in the national polls, paving her way to become the prime minister for the fourth consecutive term.

The younger daughter of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and younger sister of the prime minister, Sheikh Rehana, presented a flower bouquet to her elder sister Sheikh Hasina.

The premier said that AL has no foreign backers as the people are their strength.

"We have no masters. The people of Bangladesh are our masters and our strength. The people's faith and confidence are our strength," she said.

Despite conspiracies of the BNP-Jamaat clique to thwart the 12th parliamentary election, Sheikh Hasina said a free, fair, neutral and participatory election was held with spontaneous participation of the people.

"The January 7 election will be written in golden letter in the history of Bangladesh," she said, extending thanks to the people concerned including the Election Commission, law enforcement forces, and armed forces for holding a wonderful election.

She said the January 7 election was totally free, fair, disciplined, participatory and competitive among the polls held after 1975.

"We have proved that the election can be held in a free and fair manner under the Awami League government," she said.

The prime minister asked the party leaders and workers to work in unison, forgetting everything for the welfare of the country and its people.The AL president said many of the party nominated candidates have been defeated by independent candidates, even though they thought they would win.

Mentioning that conspiracies are being hatched to cash in on the differences between the party men, she said, "So, work shoulder to shoulder for the welfare of the country and its people forgetting everything by showing respect to the people's mandate," she said.

The premier commended the spontaneous participation of women in the election, saying it is the outcome of ensuring women empowerment.

In this connection, she said a 130-year old woman cast her vote for boat in her Tungipara-Kotalipara constituency.

Quoting the aged women, she said, "I want to cast my vote for Sheikh Hasina for the last time."

Sheikh Hasina said the BNP leaders and activists have now become frustrated as their party boycotted the election.

She said that the non-participation of some political parties in election doesn't matter, adding the participation of the masses matters.

"If the people don't want the Awami League in power, we will abide by their mandate," the premier said.

Mentioning that the masses had dislodged the BNP government within one and a half months as they assumed power through rigging votes on February 15, 1996 election.

"The people of Bangladesh never accept any injustice," she said.

The prime minister reiterated her pledge to transform Bangladesh into a developed, prosperous and smart country by 2041.