Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Kazi Habibul Awal yesterday said democracy gets flourished through polls.
“We cannot force any party to join polls. But it is our responsibility to call upon all to join elections. If parties don’t join polls, democracy won’t get flourished,” he told reporters after a dialogue with senior journalists at Nirbachan Bhaban at Agargaon here.
Awal said: “Every stakeholder will have to make efforts for holding a fair election. We are not holding any meaningless dialogue.”
Noting that keeping transparency in polls is very important, the CEC said they talked about setting CCTV cameras inside centers and showing it on monitor outside of centers.
National and international election observers can also report to the commission, he said.
He said they have efforts to discharge duties with honesty and they will continue it.
Awal said they will have to do everything required to make the polls free from any kinds of influence.
Biggest challenge of holding an election is to ensure that voters can exercise their franchise smoothly, he mentioned.
He said they must have to stop any kind of vote rigging. “We will try to enhance our capability and efficiency,” he said.
The CEC said electronic voting machine (EVM) facilities can reduce the use of muscle power as none can fill ballot box with stamping ballot papers illegally in this system.
“We have already held several meetings over the matter,” he said. Four election commissioners and senior officials of the EC joined the dialogue.
