Shawdesh Desk:

Chief Election Commissioner Kazi Habibul Awal on Monday advised politicians to face foreigners’ interference in elections, if any, politically as the Election Commission has nothing to do in this regard.

‘If there is any interference from diplomats, you [politicians] will deal with it politically. The Election Commission has nothing to do in this regard. It’s not even supposed to come. It is not credible to me that any other country would support or threaten our country or any of our political parties. But you have to face it politically, if any,’ the CEC said while having a talk with the Workers Party of Bangladesh at the Nirbachan Bhaban in Dhaka.

A WP delegation led by its general secretary Fazle Hossain Badsha attended the EC-hosted talks that it is holding to solicit opinions from registered political parties over the next general election.

The CEC said that the commission would always call upon the parties to join the elections, adding that it has never said that it will not hold elections if parties do not take part in them.

‘But since we believe in democracy, in elections, there would be a question if it is a multi-party democracy, or a two-party or a three-party system,’ he added.

Many, he noted, say that four or five ministries should be placed under the commission during the polls to strengthen it.

‘Even if we implement it, we don’t think we can “take” it. If the constitution is amended, maybe I can take it, otherwise not. Because there is a matter of the cabinet; who will be appointed and how; that is not in our jurisdiction. The Election Commission is the Election Commission, it is not a ministry,’ he remarked.

Awal said that when the commission would take the charge of the ministry of home or of another ministry it would create another crisis.

‘We are vested with sufficient powers in the law. We will try to implement those provisions properly. It is our humble opinion that those powers might not have been used properly in the past,’ he added.

In another dialogue with the Bangladesh Muslim League at the same venue on the day, Awal hoped that the commission would have the authority over the election-time government and would receive necessary assistance from it during the polls.

However, he said, if the election-time government does not assist the commission, the polls will be unreliable.

‘The actual power is in the hands of law enforcement agencies like the police, the BGB [Border Guard Bangladesh] and the army.  For the sake of a fair election, we need to make sure that the commands made are met with positive responses,’ he added.

‘The process of election is not easy,’ he said, adding that it should be taken as a challenge.

The EC had also invited the Socialist Party of Bangladesh and the Liberal Democratic Party to talks on the day but the parties declined the invitations.