Dhaka, Nov 10 (Just News): Shushashoner Jonno Nagorik (Shujan), a civil society platform, today expressed doubts about fair and credible holding of the upcoming national election amid the ongoing “spree of arrest, restriction on political activities and use of Digital Security Act”.
“We want not only a peaceful election but also a free, fair and credible one. A congenial atmosphere must prevail in the country during the polls,” Shujan’s President M Hafiz Uddin Khan said at a programme this morning.
M Hafiz Uddin Khan, also a former advisor to caretaker government, was addressing the programme of “Jatiya Nirbachan Olympiad”, organised by Shujan in association with The Hunger Project, an international voluntary organisation, at CIRDAP International Conference Centre in Dhaka at 10:30am.
A total of 90 participants from 30 constituencies joined the Olympiad, among whom the top 10 were awarded at the programme.
“Why is the election being held so hurriedly? What is the government’s problem if the election is held in January?” the Shujan chief asked.
He also expressed concerns as foreign election observers will not come to monitor polls situation as the election it will be held during Christmas celebration.
Speaking at the programme, former chief election commissioner Dr ATM Shamsul Huda expressed concerns over the use of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) in the upcoming election.
“The EVMs are being hastily procured privately at a cost of over Tk 3,800 crore for using those in the upcoming polls. Despite objection from most political parties, for whose sake will the EVMs be used in the polls?” he said.
The speakers at the programme also revealed that around 2.30 crore young voters will exercise their franchise in the upcoming election, among whom around 43 lakh became voters this year.
There are total 10,41,43,381 voters in the country at present, they added.
