The Election Commission is marred by irregularities hindering efforts to ensure transparency and accountability at the constitutional body, says Commissioner Mahbub Talukdar.
His remarks came on Monday while speaking to the media at his offices, a day after him and his colleagues handed over an "unofficial note" to Chief Election Commissioner KM Nurul Huda alleging of being left in the dark over the commission's activities.
"A kind of arbitrariness is going on within the Election Commission Secretariat, which clearly breaches the Constitution, Representation of the People Order, the EC Secretariat Act," Talukdar said.
According to him, the Secretariat is "not accountable in many cases" but the Commission is accountable for everything.
"It's imperative to conduct all activities of the Election Commission strictly in line with the rules and regulations," Talukdar said before adding a fair and credible election is not possible without proper coordination between the commission and its secretariat.
Alleging of irregularities over recruitment to vacant posts in the commission, he said that the Secretariat expelled 135 job-seekers from the test on charges of fraud, but did not initiate any punitive measures.
Over Tk 40 million was paid to a Dhaka University department to administer the recruitment test and grade the papers, said Talukdar before adding: "The chief election commissioner cleared it but there's no detail of this expenditure with the Commission. The Secretariat even does not know anything about it."
When the commissioners sought explanation in a meeting on Nov 14, EC Secretary Md Alamgir responded by saying that the issue was beyond their authority, which was backed by CEC Huda, said Commissioner Talukdar.
