Election wasn’t participatory enough: CEC

The 12th parliamentary election was not participatory enough, but the nation could overcome a crisis through this election, Chief Election Commissioner Kazi Habibul Awal said yesterday.

"We are satisfied as there were not many incidents of irregularities in the polls, which had been a cause of concern," he said while speaking at an event at the Election Commission office.

With this election, people got relief but they did not get any permanent solution, he said.

"Election is not a philosophy -- it is a bureaucratic process. Politics and democracy are ideologies. Popularity is assessed through polls. Election is needed for the sake of democracy, which is why political leaders should find a way out of this crisis."

The crisis remains as the polls had not been acceptable to some parties, Awal said. They not only boycotted the election but also tried to stop it, he said.

"If such crisis is created every five years over holding the polls, the country's development will be hampered."

The CEC said they learnt from the media that this election was comparatively good.

"There are praise and criticism. We need to consider both. But in social media, there is continuous criticism -- we don't bother with it."

Awal's comments come a day after Transparency International Bangladesh said, "The EC has acted as one of the catalysts in implementing the election agenda in the name of constitutional obligations and legal boundaries."

In response, Awal said: "How did the Election Commission implement the government agenda in the name of constitutional obligations? Were there no obligations? What could we do? Could we defer the election for three years or 10 years or 30 years saying that there is no political consensus?"

No one in the EC had any deal with the government over any secret agenda.

"Without any doubt, I could say I had no such deal."