A delegation of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) has visited the Election Commission to lodge the complaint that it is not playing its appropriate role in the Upazila elections.
Although the election is being held on a non-party basis, BNP-backed candidates are taking part in the polls beginning on Wednesday.
BNP acting Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir has sent a letter to the commission, alleging it was not playing its due role, and urged it to hold a fair election.Ruhul Kabir Rizvi, his deputy, handed over the letter to acting EC Secretary Sirajul Islam on Tuesday.
“If the commission believes itself to be even slightly independent, it must accept the responsibility of holding a free and fair election,” he told reporters.
“If this election turns out to be a repetition of the farcical Jan 5 polls, the people will never accept it. There will be a strong resistance,” he said.
Rizvi said the letter, directed at the chief election commissioner, had described the ‘abductions, genocide and mass arrests’ before and after the Jan 5 elections.
The letter alleged that BNP candidates were being similarly attacked before the Upazila polls.
“Across the country, arrest warrants have been issued against our activists. They are on the run,” he said.
Rizvi said the EC had remained ‘inactive’ despite repeated complaints made at press conferences and public meetings.
Election Commissioner Shah Nawaz on Monday said complaints concerning the election had to be lodged with the returning officers concerned. “The accusations have to be specific,” he said. – bdnews24.com
