Published: 02:15 AM, 18 November 2018
Polls not in govt's hands: Quader
Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader yesterday said it is up to the Election Commission (EC) to ensure a level-playing field for all the political parties participating in the upcoming national election. He came up with the comment in response to a complaint by the Jatiya Oikya Front, a new alliance of the BNP and several other opposition parties, about a lack of equal opportunities for all participating parties.
"The matter of ensuring a level-playing field is now entirely up to the Election Commission. The government has nothing to do here. The EC is now in charge of the matter since the announcement of the election schedule," said Quader, also the Road Transport and Bridges Quader. By appointing foreign lobbyist, he said, the BNP has proved that they do not want free, fair and credible polls rather they want to foil the upcoming national election.
Quader questioned whether the BNP really wanted to take part in the election in response to the Oikya Front's threats to withdraw if acceptable election conditions are not created "After what they did in Paltan, they are asking for a fair environment? There is no sense of that in their behavior." "Their attack on police took place in broad daylight. They caused mayhem during the collection of nomination forms. This leaves us skeptical over their actual desire to compete in the elections."
The media has reported that various countries have expressed their skepticism of the fairness of upcoming parliamentary the election during a meeting between diplomats and Jatiya Oikya Front. "One or two countries may raise some questions about the election after speaking with many of them. This could also be the result of lobbying as the BNP is spending a lot of money on it."
