People no longer have confidence in the Election Commission (EC) and the electoral system. Transparent elections are not possible without an independent and neutral EC. The party's secretary general Ziauddin Ahmed Bablu said this in a briefing after the presidium meeting at the Banani office of the Jatiya Party (JPA) on Monday.
Last Saturday, 42 prominent citizens sent a letter to President Abdul Hamid to take action against the EC for allegations of serious misconduct. Although the BNP supported it, the Awami League termed the allegation as a ploy to question the Election Commission. But the opposition Japao, which voted in alliance with the Awami League in the last three elections, is also criticizing the EC's role.
Asked about the party's position on the letter to the President to take action against the EC, Ziauddin Bablu said they wanted the Election Commission to make every election free, fair, acceptable and competitive. As an independent and constitutional institution, the Commission should be able to function freely from influence and interference. The Jatiya Party does not want a questionable election.
Despite criticizing the EC, the JPA secretary general did not allege vote rigging. He said only two percent of the votes were cast in the Dhaka-10 by-election. Only 10 percent votes were cast in the Dhaka-5 by-election. The Awami League and the BNP claim they have 35 to 40 percent of the vote. This proves that people have lost confidence in the Election Commission and the electoral system. They are not coming to vote.
The presidium meeting chaired by JPA chairman GM Quader discussed the upcoming founding anniversary of the party. The eight divisional additional secretaries general of the party submitted the organizational report. Senior leaders including Barrister Anisul Islam Mahmud, Senior Co-Chairman of Japar, ABM Ruhul Amin Hawlader, Co-Chairman expressed their views at the meeting. It was decided to celebrate the founding anniversary on January 1 through a big event here. For this, a celebration committee has been formed with Ziauddin Bablu as the convener and Sunil Shubhray as the member secretary.
Presidium members including Japar co-chairman Syed Abu Hossain Babla and Mujibul Haque Chunnu were present at the meeting. Moshiur Rahman Rangaon, who lost the post of secretary general to Ziauddin Bablu, was also present.
