EC wants to hold acceptable polls: CEC

The Election Commission (EC) wants to hold acceptable national elections going beyond the crisis of trust and confidence, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Kazi Habibul Awal has said.

“We sit around the table to find out a path for holding acceptable national elections going beyond everything including the crisis of trust,” Kazi Habibul Awal told reporters after emerging from a meeting with senior journalists of electronic media on Monday.

Earlier in the day, the CEC held the second-phase talks with senior broadcast journalists at his Agargaon office with an aim to set a roadmap for the upcoming 12th National Parliament elections slated for late 2023 or early 2024.

He said the country’s democracy will not flourish unless all political parties take part in the elections and the commission will devise a roadmap based on the outcome of the ongoing dialogue.

“Neither the national elections will be competitive nor will democracy be flourished if all political parties do not join the polls.”

The commission can call upon all political parties to join the polls but cannot create any pressure on any party for taking part in the electoral process, he said.

The EC invited 39 journalists including editors of different electronic media of which 26 persons attended the meeting.

The EC has held the three-phase dialogues with people from different sectors including educationists, eminent citizens, and journalists of print media seeking their opinion to hold the 12th parliamentary elections in a free and fair and inclusive manner.