Dhaka, Nov 22 (Just News): Jatiya Oikyafront today warned the Election Commission and the government of filing case if they try to use the Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) in the upcoming general election.
“We are telling very clearly that it would be violation of the constitution and an offence of sedition if the EVM is used in the election. We will sue the government and the Election Commission if they use it,” said ASM Abdur Rob, president of Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (JSD), a component of the Jatiya Oikyafront.
He came up with the warning while addressing a seminar on the use of the much-debatable electronic voting device arranged by the opposition alliance held at a hotel in Dhaka this afternoon.
Rob, who hoisted the first flag of the independence as the vice president of Dhaka University Student’s Union on March 2, 1971, also called upon the EC and the government not to go against the people’s interest by using the EVM in the polls.
“We will not spare anyone if the EVMs are used in the election,” Rob sounded the note of caution.
Addressing the event, BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir blasted the government for “resorting to various tricks to return to power forcibly”.
He also criticised the EC’s role and said the constitutional body has gone “loyal to the ruling Awami League to bring it in the state power”.
“Whatever it is, we will go to the election as there will be a revolution of vote in the country,” the BNP leader said.
Nagorik Oikya Convener Mahmudur Rahman Manna said the government is “hatching all out efforts to rig the election”.
Different countries are telling that they would not accept any controversial polls in the country further, Manna said and added, “A mass revolution like situation ahead of the polls is prevailing upon the country.”
"The farewell bell of the ruling Awami League has started ringing soon after formation of the Jatiya Oikyafront under the leadership of Dr Kamal Hossain," said Krishak Sramik Janata League President Bangabir Kader Siddiqui.
The Election Commission is going to introduce EVM in a limited scale in the upcoming parliamentary election amid strong opposition from the newly formed political alliance Jatiya Oikyafront.
The opposition alliance is saying that using EVM will create a scope of rigging as the system can be manipulated.
Meanwhile, the ruling quarters is arguing in favour of EVM saying that it is a modern and flawless system.
President Abdul Hamid on October 30 promulgated the “Representation of the People Order (amendment) Ordinance, 2018”, paving the way for the use of electronic voting machines (EVMs) in the upcoming national election.
The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council on September 18 cleared a Tk 3,825.34 crore project to procure 1.5 lakh EVMs.
