Regain people’s faith in polls

People's trust in the Election Commission has eroded drastically because of its failure to hold the last two general elections in a free and fair manner, said senior journalists.

They also said that reviving the trust should be a priority for this EC.

The journalists were attending a dialogue with the commission at its conference room yesterday.

The EC is holding a series of dialogues with a cross section of people for their recommendations on how to hold free and fair polls. Yesterday's was the third round of the talks attended by editors and senior journalists of different newspapers.

The previous two ECs were criticised for holding "one-sided" polls in 2014 in which 153 MPs out of 300 were elected unopposed and for failing to check alleged ballot stuffing the night before the 2018 parliamentary polls.

Chief Election Commissioner Kazi Habibul Awal said they heard the opinions and recommendations of the journalists and would take them into consideration before preparing a roadmap to the next polls.

Jatiya Press Club President Farida Yasmin said bringing back people's confidence in the EC would be its first and toughest challenge.

"The Election Commission will be able to hold a good election if it can tackle political and other pressures with an iron hand," she said.

Daily Bhorer Kagoj Editor Shyamal Dutta said EC's reputation is now at its worst and reviving it will be the commission's main responsibility.

He claimed Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen requested the US to take steps for bringing the BNP back into elections. "It is a matter of shame that such a request was made to the US … It is the commission's job to earn the confidence of all political parties."

Daily Ittefaq Editor Tasmima Hossain proposed a staggered national election, saying that such an important election should take place division-wise following a reshuffle in the administration.

New Age Editor Nurul Kabir said people lacked confidence in the Search Committee that recommended the names to the president for appointing the current CEC and other commissioners. "You [EC] will have to work to bring that confidence back."

Daily Samakal Advisory Editor Abu Sayeed Khan said it would be better for the EC to avoid EVMs in the polls.

Daily Prothom Alo's Associate Editor Anisul Hoque said local government and other elections would be a litmus test for the EC before the next Jatiya Sangsad polls.

Daily Jugantor Editor Saiful Alam said it should be ensured that the administration and law enforcers cannot influence the EC during any elections.

Daily Samakal acting editor Muzzammil Husain said journalists are often harassed when they cover polls, so the "highest level of access" of the media must be ensured during polls.

Daily Observer Editor Iqbal Sobhan Chowdhury said creating political consensus is not the duty of the EC. "It should rather create an environment in which a political party will feel that it will fall behind other parties if it does not take part in an election."

Business Standard Editor Inam Ahmed said different laws are used to tie up the media during election time. Whether these laws can be relaxed during that period should come under consideration, he said.

Daily Ajker Patrika Editor Golam Rahman, columnists Ajay Dasgupta, Bhibhu Ranjan Sarkar, Daily Jugantor Senior Assistant Editor Mahbub Kamal, among others, spoke at the programme.

The Daily Star Executive Editor Syed Ashfaqul Haque, four election commissioners, and top officials of the EC Secretariat also attended the talks.