There’s no pressure from any circles

The Election Commission is under no pressure from political circles or any parties, said the new Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Quazi Habibul Awal yesterday.

Responding to a query whether the commission was facing any pressure, he said, "There is no question of pressure. There is no pressure. We work independently and will work independently. I will let everyone know once we chalk out our working strategy.

"I have high blood pressure and with that blood pressure, there is a little more pressure of responsibility."

The CEC was speaking to reporters after paying tributes to the war heroes by placing wreath at the National Memorial yesterday.

The newly appointed CEC said, "We expected that the political leadership will discuss among themselves about political consensus. We will hold talks with our colleagues and then we will decide what to do about this. We need to think more precisely about how we will proceed."

The other four election commissioners, Begum Rashida Sultana, Brig Gen (retd) Ahsan Habib Khan, M Alamgir, and Anisur Rahman were present.

After paying homage, they observed one minute of silence to remember the supreme sacrifice of the martyrs.