Dhaka, Aug 31 (Just News): BNP on Friday turned down the Election Commission's (EC) decision to use electronic voting machines (EVMs) in the upcoming national election, saying such machines can easily be manipulated.
"The Election Commission, in which we've no confidence, will control the EVMs. We reject their decision of introducing EVMs in the national election," said BNP senior leader Moudud Ahmed.
Speaking at a discussion, he also said BNP which, what he claims, represents most of the people in Bangladesh, will not accept the use of EVMs in the polls. "We don't accept the decision."
Youth Forum, a pro-BNP platform, arranged the program at the Jatiya Press Club demanding BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia's release from jail.
Earlier on Thursday, the Election Commission at a meeting decided to send a proposal to the government for amending the electoral laws to pave the way for the use of EVMs in the general election.
Moudud, a BNP standing committee member, alleged that the government is behind the EC's decision. "I think there's a big conspiracy behind the move to use the machines for registering votes just three months ahead of the parliamentary polls. The government is directly involved with the plot."
He said the EC's swift decision to use the voting machine has raised various questions in the public’s mind.
Referring to Bangladesh Bank's reserve heist, the BNP leader asked how people could keep confidence in the electronic voting system in a country where the central bank's reserve had been plundered through hacking.
"We would like to say rigging voting machines is not difficult in a country where the central bank's money can be looted through hacking," he observed.
Moudud said many countries, including Germany, Italy and Ireland, discarded the use of EVMs in the polls. "Even, 73% people in India gave opinions against the use of EVM...there's no country where election was fair and unquestionable using the EVMs."
He said the move to procure EVMs was taken to indulge in corruption and plunder public money. "Public money will only be wasted by buying the voting machines as those won't be used in the polls."
The BNP leader said the government is now trying to keep confidence in machines instead of the people as the people's minds cannot be manipulated like machines.
About the efforts of Bikalpadhara Bangladesh President AQM Badruddoza Chowdhury and Gono Forum President Dr Kamal Hossain to forge a national unity, Moudud claimed it would turn out to be successful as people want all to get united against the current government.
Earlier, at a press conference at BNP's Nayapaltan central office, party Senior Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi also opposed the EC's decision, saying EVMs were magic boxes of vote rigging.
"We think the unilateral decision of using EVMs was taken as part of a master plan to rig votes in the next parliamentary polls," he said.
The BNP leader also claimed that people with their united efforts will foil the all of the government's “evil plans” to manipulate the next election.
(Justnews/ys/2340hr)
