BNP raises alarm over EC ‘bias’

Just days before the formal launching of election campaigning, the BNP yesterday accused the Election Commission of questionable conduct on several issues, including its “bias towards a certain party”.

At a meeting with Chief Election Commissioner AMM Nasir Uddin at the EC office in the capital’s Agargaon, BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir also alleged that leaders of various parties, including key figures, are violating the electoral code of conduct by starting campaigning ahead of the scheduled time.

“We urged the authorities to take urgent measures in this regard,” he told reporters after the meeting.

He also said returning officers, assistant returning officers, police superintendents, and other officials in some constituencies were working in favour of one party.

“We have brought these matters to the commission’s attention and urged their withdrawal after investigation, in the interest of a free, fair, and acceptable election.”

“The Election Commission is engaging in questionable conduct on several issues, with the postal ballots for expatriate Bangladeshis being the most prominent and unresolved one.”

Fakhrul added that his party has already submitted complaints to the EC in this regard, adding that ballots sent to registered expatriate voters and the printing of the papers remain “problematic”.

“We believe these ballots are not correct. There was some bias here, and there were attempts to give undue advantage to a particular party. We’ve urged the Election Commission to fix this.”

He added that the BNP has demanded postal ballots inside the country be distributed only after electoral symbols are allocated. These postal ballots, he said, must be arranged in the same manner as regular ballots that are used on polling day.

Fakhrul further alleged that Jamaat-e-Islami activists are violating the electoral code of conduct by collecting NID copies, bKash and mobile numbers from households. “This breaches personal privacy and is a criminal offense. We have already submitted objections over this violation and urged urgent action.”

Emphasising his party’s commitment to a level playing field for the 13th parliamentary election scheduled for February 12, he said their Chairperson Tarique Rahman had even cancelled personal trips to uphold fairness.

“But leaders of many parties, including key figures, are repeatedly conducting campaigns, violating the code of conduct.”

He added, “Another issue we consider extremely important is that, in various constituencies of Dhaka city, a party has resorted to unethical tactics to ensure victory for its nominated candidates by transferring large numbers of voters from different parts of the country into Dhaka constituencies.”

Fakhrul said the BNP has urgently requested details of voter transfers to Dhaka, including how many were moved, from which areas to which constituencies, when they were moved and the reasons behind the transfers.

“We have also received complaints that several senior EC officials are working for a particular party. We’ve requested that measures be taken against them.”

About whether a fair election is possible under this EC, he said, “We’ve always believed it is possible, provided the problems are resolved and the issues we raised are addressed.”

On whether the BNP believes a level playing field exists, he said, “We think it does, though there are minor flaws. We believe those can be fixed.”

Asked about nomination hearings inside the EC and simultaneous protests by the BNP’s student wing outside, Fakhrul said, “The student movement is theirs to explain. But we learned that a university election was halted, and the EC later allowed it again. We believe this was wrong. The EC should reconsider the decision; otherwise, it will be questionable.”