DHAKA – Chief Adviser Prof Muhammad Yunus has ordered an investigation into the roles played by former election commissions in the irregularities surrounding the past three parliamentary elections.
At a meeting of the National Consensus Commission held last night at his official residence, Jamuna, he instructed the relevant authorities to immediately form a committee to conduct the probe.
The committee will investigate the role of former chief election commissioners, election commissioners and secretaries of the EC Secretariat involved in organising the polls.
It was the Electoral Reform Commission, in its report submitted to Yunus in January, that called for the investigation and action against those found complicit.
Badiul Alam Majumdar, who was the chief of the Electoral Reform Commission, attended yesterday’s meeting as a member of the consensus commission.
He said the political parties have agreed that it is necessary to probe the role of all officials involved in the past three controversial elections and hold them accountable.
Consensus commission Vice-Chairman Prof Ali Riaz, and members Iftekharuzzaman, Safar Raj Hossain, and Mohammad Ayub Miah also attended the meeting.
Chief Adviser’s Principal Secretary Siraz Uddin Mia and CA’s Special Assistant Monir Haider, among others, were also present.
At the meeting, the commission members informed the chief adviser about the progress on the July Charter.
“Consensus has been reached on several issues. It will be possible to finalise the charter very soon based on discussions with all political parties,” said Prof Riaz.
The chief adviser said, “Everyone is eagerly waiting for the July Charter. I hope we will be able to present it before the nation by July.”
Sharing experience from his recent visit to the UK, the chief adviser told the meeting that Bangladeshi expatriates whoever met him in London have shown interest in the interim government’s reform process.
“Bangladeshi students were very much enthusiastic [about reforms]. They discussed with me in detail about the consensus commission’s activities and shared their views,” he said.
“Every place I’ve visited, expatriate Bangladeshis there asked me, ‘Will we be able to cast our votes in the next election’?”
The chief adviser said maximum effort has to be there to ensure voting right of the expatriate Bangladeshis, stressing the need for exploring options, including postal ballot voting system.
In its report, the Electoral Reform Commission also recommended introducing methods to hold election commissioners accountable for failing to do their constitutional duties.
A section of police officials in December 2024 admitted that they were under pressure from higher authorities while performing duties during the last three national elections.
At a meeting with the reforms commission, they also alleged that there were “financial transactions” during the polls.
The Kazi Habibul Awal-led Election Commission had been at the centre of controversy as it held the most recent national polls in January last year, boycotted by the major opposition parties, including the BNP. The Awami League had to field dummy independent candidates, many of whom were AL leaders, to make the polls look participatory.
The KM Nurul Huda-led election commission organised the December 2018 general election, with opposition parties alleging ballot-box stuffing the night before election day. In January 2019, the Jatiya Oikya Front alleged before the EC that between 30 and 60 percent of the votes were cast the night before.
The same month, Transparency International Bangladesh, in a study, found that stamping of ballots took place the night before election day in more than one centre in 33 of the 50 surveyed constituencies.
The Kazi Rakibuddin Ahmad-led commission held a one-sided national election in January 2014, in which 153 lawmakers out of 300 were elected unopposed, as most of the opposition, including the BNP, boycotted the election.
The AL-led alliance won more than two-thirds majorities in all three national elections held under the Sheikh Hasina government.
