Visiting former Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) of India Dr SY Quraishi on Monday said there is nothing wrong with any unopposed election, but it is a ‘matter of thinking’ if it happens on a large scale. “There’s nothing wrong…if a large number of MPs get elected unopposed, then, I’ll have to think about what I’ll have to do in such a situation because this sort of situation never happened in India,” he said replying to a query about large-scale uncontested election. He also said that uncontested election also happens even in India. Quraishi was addressing a seminar organized by BRAC Institute of Governance and Development (BIGD) of BRAC University at the Daily Star Centre in the afternoon. Former CEC of Bangladesh Dr ATM Shamsul Huda also spoke at the seminar moderated by BIGD adviser Barrister Manzoor Hasan. Replying to another query, Dr Quraishi said the role of the Election Commission should ensure the voting of everyone. However, the boycott of election is totally democratic. None should prevent or force anyone to exercise their franchise or not, he added. About the pressure from the government on the Indian Election Commission, he said, “I’ve not seen any pressure (during his tenure as CEC).” In India, Quraishi said, the opposition and the media are very alert over the election-related issues. The people and the opposition trust the commission there, he added. “The election what is free and fair is credible and the election what is credible is free and fair,” he said replying to a question what is different between free and fair election with election system legitimacy. Dr, Quraishi, is on a visit to Bangladesh as part of a ‘curtain raiser’ to the 16th Lok Sabha (General) Elections in India scheduled from April 7 to May 12, 2014. Describing different aspects of Indian elections, the former Indian CEC said elections in his country never missed the deadline and credibility of the polls never challenged. India has conducted 15 parliamentary elections and more than 340 general elections to State Assemblies, while more than three million were elected representatives in the national, State Assemblies elections and local bodies’ polls after the country had chose democracy in 1950, Quraishi told his audience. Indian general election is not only the biggest election in the world, but also a biggest event, he cited. He said Barak Obama hailed Indian elections as ‘historic’ and an ‘example for us all’. The forthcoming nine-phase general election, which will be accompanied by elections to the Assemblies of three states 0 Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and Sikkim- will be the biggest democratic exercise in the world involving 814 million voters. He noted that the role of money power is an issue of concern saying that polls expenditure monitoring is complex and tough and ‘paid news’ surrogate advertisements. He also termed criminalisation of electoral politics as a matter of concern. Addressing the function, ATM Shamsul Huda said using experiences of the Indian electoral system is helpful for Bangladesh saying that they used to take lessons from the experiences of India. He hoped that sharing the experiences of electoral system between Bangladesh and India will continue. – UNB
