The High Court today directed the Election Commission to allocate BNP’s election symbol “Sheaf of Paddy” to its four candidates in place of other four rival contenders who were earlier allocated the same symbol.
Kamrun Nahar Shirin will get “Sheaf of Paddy” in place of Monjurul Islam Bimal for Natore-1, Abdul Hamid Dabliu will get “Sheaf of Paddy” in place of SA Kabir Jinnah for Manikganj-1, Mostafizur Rahman will get “Sheaf of Paddy” instead of Khalek Chowdhury for Naogaon-1 and Masuda Momin will get “Sheaf of Paddy” in place of Abdul Muhith Talukder, Deputy Attorney General Motaher Hossain Sazu told The Daily Star.
He said Monjurul, Jinnah, Khalek and Muhith cannot contest the December 30 election following the HC orders, he said, adding that they can, however, move appeals before the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court against the HC orders.
The HC stayed for three months the EC’s decisions to allocate “Sheaf of Paddy” to Monjurul, Jinnah, Khalek and Muhith and issued separate rules asking the EC and government to explain in four weeks why the EC’s decisions should not be declared illegal.
The bench of Justice JBM Hassan and Justice Md Khairul Alam came up with the orders and rules following separate writ petitions filed by Kamrun Nahar, Abdul Hamid, Mostafizur and Masuda challenging the EC’s decisions.
The writ petitioners said in their petitions that BNP nominated them first for contesting the December 30 general election.
But the EC allocated “Sheaf of Paddy” to their rival candidates in violation of the Representation of People’s Order (RPO), they said in the petitions.
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BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia’s adviser Inam Ahmed Chowdhury, who was nomination seeker of the opposition party from Sylhet-1, officially joined the ruling Awami League today.
He formally joined the ruling party after offering bouquet of flower to AL President and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at her official residence Gono Bhaban this evening.
A member of prime minister's press wing confirmed the development to The Daily Star.
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The Supreme Court today upheld a notice issued by the Dhaka University's Bangla department asking its students to keep their faces, including their ears, uncovered during exams and presentations.
The Appellate Division of the SC stayed a High Court order that halted the effectiveness of the notice issued by the department on December 11 last year.
The apex court, however, asked the HC to hear and dispose of the rule in two months. The rule ordered the authorities concerned to explain why the department's decision should not be declared illegal.
A full bench of the Appellate Division headed by Justice Md Nuruzzaman passed the order following a leave to appeal petition filed by the Bangla department challenging the HC order.
Writ petitioners' lawyer Faizullah Faiz told The Daily Star that following the apex court's order, the students under the department can be identified during exams.
Attorney General AM Amin Uddin appeared for DU Bangla department while lawyer Belayet Hossain argued for the writ petitioners during the hearing today.
Responding to a writ petition filed by three students of the department, the HC on March 28 stayed for six months the effectiveness of the notice and also issued a rule asking authorities concerned to explain why the department's decision should not be declared illegal.
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The recent image of a Jubo League leader carrying a ballot unit panel of an electronic voting machine (EVM) after snatching it during a by-poll in Chattogram's Boalkhali upazila is the latest addition to a growing list of examples as to why EVMs may not be suitable for conducting a free and fair election in Bangladesh. Neither the assistant presiding officer nor the on-duty members of the law enforcement agencies were able to prevent the mighty Jubo League's union level leader Nirmalendu Dey Sumon from taking the EVM ballot unit panel away.
They were unable to recover it either; Awami League's union President Ratan Chowdhury recovered the panel and returned it to the polling centre.
This incident occurred only a few days after Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Kazi Habibul Awal said no one had yet made a sound and objective complaint about the use of EVMs, and the commission had taken a stand in favour of EVMs after conducting several tests. Would the CEC now, at the least, agree that his several tests didn't include robbing of ballot-equivalent parts of their very expensive toy? Clearly he has been oblivious to the arguments made by most of the political parties, except the ruling Awami League and its allies. There's even stronger opposition to the idea of using EVMs among the citizenry and civil society organisations. Have the polling officers not blamed these machines' inefficiency for slowing down the voting process, which left many voters frustrated and contributed to lower turnout?
While speaking at a workshop in Cox's Bazar on March 11, the CEC, perhaps unwittingly, revealed the Election Commission's obsession with EVMs when he said, "The Election Commission is always in favour of conducting elections using EVMs. We are also working to find innovative modern technology for future elections." His comment that "so far, there has been no objective complaint about rigged elections using EVMs" suggests that he has conveniently forgotten that these EVMs do not have any option for verifying voting records, owing to a design fault of not including the voter-verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT) system.
Even though it has abandoned the ambitious plan to hold 50 percent of the next parliamentary election through EVMs due to the country's ongoing financial crisis, the EC still appears to be aiming at using EVMs in quite a significant number of parliamentary seats. On March 15, the commission decided to ask the finance ministry for allocating Tk 1,260 crore (equivalent to more than $1 billion) for repairing 110,000 EVMs. This means each EVM unit will cost Tk 115,000, which is nearly half the purchase price.
It was reported in this daily that each EVM was bought for Tk 235,000, a price 11 times costlier than neighbouring India. When better EVMs (including VVPAT) cost much less, then why does the EC want to repair discredited junk?
Earlier, it was reported in the media that about 40,000 EVMs were beyond repair. When these EVMs were introduced, the EC bought 150,000 EVMs, which means there's none, or very few, usable EVMs available now. Even then, the commission is insistent on having some EVMs in the upcoming parliamentary election.
According to Election Commissioner Anisur Rahman, the Election Commission just wants a pledge that its request would be approved. He told the media, "If we are assured of the required funds, we will go for the work immediately. We can even make half payment to the Machine Tools Factory in this fiscal year and the rest in the next fiscal year." This shows the EC's resolve to go the extra mile to have as many EVMs being used in the next election as possible.
It was reported in this daily that each EVM was bought for Tk 235,000, a price 11 times costlier than neighbouring India. When better EVMs (including VVPAT) cost much less, then why does the EC want to repair discredited junks?
Such an extraordinary emphasis on having elections in some constituencies make us wonder whether there's more to this than meets the eye. It may sound cynical, but questions can be raised whether the intention is to allow the workers of the ruling party to cover their unlawful act of pressing voting buttons for their candidates in the name of assisting the voters. Besides, allowing election officials up to one percent of the voters in a polling booth to cast votes through EVMs in the event of fingerprint mismatch also increases risks of manipulation.
The amount of money that the Election Commission is seeking to repair faulty EVMs is almost double the money allocated for the last parliamentary election – which was also a record in our electoral history. Available data shows that the allocation for the last national assembly election was Tk 700 crore, when the voter number was 104 million. The EC's original plan was to have voting in 150 constituencies through EVMs, and for that it sought Tk 8,711 crore, which would have cost us 14 times more than the previous election. In a way, the ongoing economic predicament has saved us from an exorbitant waste.
Under these circumstances, it would be sensible to abandon such a wasteful wish, and concentrate on other crucial preparatory work for the coming election instead. CEC Habibul Awal, in his public statements, has acknowledged that there is a crisis. The reason for the crisis is evident in his words, "We still do not see a consensus among parties regarding the upcoming general election, which is essential. We do not want any political crisis before or during the elections."
It's well understood that the CEC doesn't want to take the role of a mediator, but getting an agreement from the contending parties on the rules of the game beforehand is not someone else's responsibility.
Kamal Ahmed is an independent journalist. His Twitter handle is @ahmedka1
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Dhaka city dwellers are leaving the city for their home in masses ahead of the upcoming general election to be held on Sunday.
The home rush began yesterday, as the two weekends, today and tomorrow, make up an ideal three-day holiday to visit ancestral homes.
The photo was taken at Gabtoli Bus Terminal. Photo: Star/ Palash Khan
Because many of the dwellers are voters of their home districts, they must travel back to their home land to cast their ballot and exercise their franchise.
The photo was taken at Sadarghat launch terminal. Photo: Star/ Prabir Das
People were seen gathering on all the exit points of the city. Gabtoli, Kamlapur and Sadarghat were teeming with outbound people since this morning.
The photo was taken at Sadarghat launch terminal. Photo: Star/ Prabir Das
The home-goers are expecting to enjoy happy times with their near and dear ones along with exercising their democratic rights to vote.
The photo was taken at Airport Railway Station. Photo: Star/ Palash Khan
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The European Union will send an exploratory election monitoring mission to Bangladesh in July as the Election Commission has welcomed them in a written invitation.
EU Ambassador to Bangladesh Charles Whiteley confirmed the development to The Daily Star.
He said he was very happy about Bangladesh's stance of welcoming the international election observers.
This exploratory mission is the first of the three-stage election monitoring mission from the EU.
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