Events leading to the schedule announcement of our 12th parliamentary election appear to have eerily similar to those before the  previous two much discredited and disputed elections. This time apart from serious disagreements among the most potent challengers centering  the election management process, the Election Commission’s consistently inconsistent statements and decisions show it lacks the courage and capacity to act decisively and independently. Otherwise, chief election commissioner Kazi Habibul Awal’s address to the nation would not have been full of contradictions.  CEC Awal admitted that “the EC has been noticing differences among the political leadership regarding the polls, particularly on the issue of the institutional system of elections,” and that “consensus and solutions are needed,’ but announced the voting schedule without any resolution of the disputes. He then expects the nation to trust him when he said,  “We believe the upcoming polls w...

Chief election commissioner Kazi Habibul Awal’s latest plea to the parties to take initiatives to solve the ongoing political crisis is quite intriguing. Though his admission that a political crisis really exists is at odds with the government’s claim of a conducive environment, his argument that the commission neither has the capacity nor the mandate to resolve it is only reneging itself of authority and responsibility. If it believes that there’s a crisis which makes ensuring a free and fair election impossible, how can it justify proceeding with holding an election without resolving the crisis?  The EC’s much publicised dialogue with all the registered parties took place after the 90-days countdown began till the 12th national election. Now the EC stands to have sufficient legal authority to ask the executive branch for taking all necessary steps to create a fair and competitive environment. Many observers had thought that, ahead of the dialogue the EC would take required steps ...

  Chief election commissioner (CEC) Kazi Habibul Awal’s comment defending the recent amendment of the Representation of the People Order (RPO) seems to be well-synchronised with the government’s narrative. Brushing aside experts’ criticisms for losing some of its crucial regulatory powers, the CEC said, "No authority of the Election Commission (EC) has been abolished with the amendment; it has been consolidated.” If the CEC’s assertion that no authority has been curtailed is true, then one may ask: what warranted them to seek legal authority for cancelling elections of an entire constituency in the event of widespread violation of electoral rules? Experts have merely pointed out that the authority the EC sought was already there, and they even applied that power in suspending voting of the entire constituency in Gaibandha by-polls last year. Following the new amendment, the EC will no longer be able to cancel or suspend voting of an entire constituency, let alone the election proc...

As we enter 2023, there remains palpable anxiety and nervousness about the national political landscape. It is expected that the 12th parliamentary election will be held at the end of this year or early next year, thereby making everything in politics revolving around the issue of election. In a way, the ruling party Awami League has already kicked off its campaigning, as the prime minister, in her last three public meetings - in Chattogram, Cox’s Bazar and Jashore - sought votes for “the boat” in the next parliamentary elections. Another such meeting is scheduled to be held in Rajshahi in the first week of February.  Steps have been taken to revive the almost dormant 14-party alliance by allocating them two parliamentary seats for upcoming byelections in six constituencies, which fell vacant due to the resignations of BNP  members.  The resignations by those handful of BNP MPs were also a tactic of mounting pressure on the government to agree to the opposition’s demand f...

V ideo footage and reports have been emerging daily on both traditional and social media exposing how violent and intimidating our elections have become. It has been going on throughout the country and in all the phases of local government elections—mostly union parishads (UPs) but in a few municipalities too. Death counts from these acts of violence are between 39 and 50, depending on official and unofficial statistics. The Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Khan Mohammad Nurul Huda, however, said "the elections were not violent and there were only a few incidents of violence", whereas his fellow Commissioner Mahbub Talukder termed it as "bloodstained".  A closer scrutiny of the facts shows that during the first two phases of UP elections, at least 200 chairmen were elected uncontested, which is suggestive of intimidation by candidates favoured by local administration in order to force likely contenders to quit the race. Such administrative favours, though unlawful ...