Five years of Huda-led EC: Intention in question

"Our first challenge is to hold a free and fair election and then to win the confidence of all political parties, including the BNP," Chief Election Commissioner KM Nurul Huda told a news briefing five years ago after taking office.

But a number of political parties, election experts and civil society members on multiple occasions said the CEC and his team failed miserably to do either.

They raised questions over the CEC's intention to hold free and fair elections as things turned worse compared to the tenure of his predecessor, Kazi Rakib Uddin.

In the controversial general election on January 5, 2014,  held under Rakib-led commission, a majority of the candidates, 153 to be exact, won uncontested as the BNP and other political parties boycotted the polls.

The Huda-led commission, which completes its five-year tenure on February 14, earned the bad name for failing to check alleged ballot stuffing the night before the 2018 parliamentary polls.

It also faced huge criticisms over the 100 percent vote cast in over 200 polling stations in that election.

Besides, a record number of candidates got elected unopposed in local government elections marred by widespread irregularities like ballot stuffing and capturing of booths. Clashes over Union Parishad polls held in phases left around a hundred people dead.

"The current commission's controversial activities rather heightened people's mistrust in the constitutional body, and caused some irreparable damage to the electoral system," said Shusashoner Jonno Nagorik (Shujan) Secretary Badiul Alam Majumdar.

"This Election Commission has snatched people's voting rights," he added.

The incumbent EC was formed on February 15, 2017, and held the 11th national election on December 30, 2018.

The next day, opposition political parties raised allegations that "ballot stuffing took place on the night before the election day".

Transparency International Bangladesh in a report on January 15, 2019, said electoral irregularities like stamping ballot papers the night before the polls and ballot stuffing by capturing booths on the election day took place in 47 out of the 50 constituencies it surveyed.

Other irregularities include inaction of law enforcers and administrative officials, fake vote casting, barring of voters and polling agents to enter polling stations, and forcing people to cast vote for a specific symbol, the study found.

"Ballot stuffing on the night before the election day is a big example of how people's voting rights have been snatched," Badiul Alam said.

Citing EC data, his organisation in July 2019 said 213 polling centres of 103 constituencies saw 100 percent vote cast, which is unbelievable.

Yet the Election Commission "could do nothing".

CEC Huda said it was because no aggrieved person went to the court to complain about ballot stuffing the night before the election day.

"I cannot say anything conclusive based on allegations. Because I did not see it. You didn't see it either," he told a press meet on January 27, responding to a question.

On 100 percent vote cast, he said, "I had previously said that it was abnormal and I am saying it now again."

After publishing the names of winners in gazettes, any aggrieved candidate could have gone to court within 30 days, he said.

"We had nothing to do as no one went to the court," he added.

Echoing his view, Election Commissioner Rafiqul Islam said no returning officer and political parties raised the allegations directly to them. "We do not have the divine power to come to know about election irregularities."

Ignoring objections from many opposition political parties and civil society members, the EC used the electronic voting machines (EVMs) in six constituencies in the December 30 national election. It also used EVMs later in some by-polls of parliamentary constituencies, city corporations and local government bodies.

The EC in July-August 2017 held dialogues with different political parties and other stakeholders before the 11th national election. During the dialogue, BNP and its allies and some left political parties opposed the idea of using EVMs.

However, the ruling Awami League and four of its allies supported it.

"The Election Commission created controversies by using EVMs in elections. Someone can manipulate it digitally. There are still doubts about EVMs as they do not have the voter verifiable paper audit trail mechanism [which allows voters to verify that their votes have been cast]," said Badiul.

"Some developed countries are moving away from the system," he added.

Nurul Huda, however, considers EVM as an advanced system with which voters can cast their vote "accurately". He requested the next EC not to abandon the EVM system.

Over the last two years, 42 eminent citizens urged President Abdul Hamid to constitute the Supreme Judicial Council to probe allegations of corruption and misconduct by the EC.

They wrote twice to the president -- on December 14, 2020, and January 17, 2021, in two letters.

In their first letter, they said the current EC indulged in misconduct and irregularities, including in expenditure on "special speakers" for delivering speeches in training programmes ahead of the 11th national election and fifth upazila polls.

The Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has detected financial anomalies in the EC's expenditure on paying many of its trainers ahead of the last parliamentary polls and upazila parishad polls in March and June 2019.

It has raised audit objections, saying government allowances were given against positions, including that of "special speakers" and "course advisers", although the finance ministry did not approve the positions for the training programmes, shows a working paper of an EC meeting, held on January 3.

The training sessions were organised by the Electoral Training Institute (ETI) of EC for poll officials.

At the January 27 press briefing, Nurul Huda said the allegations of 42 eminent citizens were "not true" and that audit objections and corruption are two different issues. All audit objections will be settled as per the rules.

On several occasions, Nurul Huda and Election Commissioner Mahbub Talukdar traded barbs in public over electoral and other issues, which many found to be "disgraceful" for a constitutional body like the Election Commission.