Dr Iftekharuzzaman Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) has found irregularities in 47 out of 50 constituencies surveyed during the recently-held parliamentary election.
Terming the national election 'faulty' and 'controversial', local chapter of the Transparency International (TI) in a research report on Tuesday also recommended a judicial inquiry into alleged irregularities.
It said the election was participatory in nature, but it was not competitive due to various irregularities in absence of strict enforcement of the electoral code of conduct by the Election Commission (EC).
The Berlin-based anti-corruption watchdog revealed the findings of the research titled 'Review of the 11th Jatiya Sangsad Election Process' conducted on randomly selected 50 constituencies out of 300 at its office in the capital.
The research was carried out from November, 2018 to January 10, 2019 covering a total of 107 major candidates in the surveyed constituencies in eight divisions.
In the constituencies surveyed, the independent watchdog found irregularities like playing silent role by the EC and law enforcement agencies, ballot stuffing, fake voting, booth occupation and overspending in 47 constituencies.
Making the report public, Shahjada M Akram, senior programme manager (research and policy) of the independent think-tank, said irregularities were found in at least one or multiple voting centres in those constituencies.
The prime irregularity was playing silent role by the EC and law enforcement agencies. Such irregularity was observed in 44 constituencies, followed by fake voting in 42 constituencies, ballot stuffing in 33 seats before the start of polls, booth capture for fake voting in 29 and obstruction and ouster of polling agents in 26 constituencies, he said.
Mr Shahjada said they got information on the elections mainly from direct sources through interview of voters, candidates, political activists, local journalists, law enforcers, polls officials.
Awami League candidates violated the electoral code of conduct in 95.1 per cent of the cases, followed by Jatiya Party (87.5 per cent) and BNP (30.6 per cent).
He said average spending of the candidates before the announcement of election schedule in these constituencies was Tk 7.76 million, three times higher than the expenditure limit (Tk 2.5 million) set by the Election Commission.
"Spending on getting nomination was not included in the calculation," he added.
According to the report, irregularities started taking place from June last year when the EC initiated buying 2,535 electronic voting machines before getting the government's approval. The cabinet approved procurement of EVMs in October.
The ruling Awami League alone was active in election campaign in all constituencies across the country, the report said. In some constituencies, officials from the local administration and law enforcement agencies joined the polls campaign.
On the polling day, vote rigging took place, voters were either not allowed to enter polling centres or forced to vote for a particular symbol, and opposition polling agents were either barred from entering or forced out of centres, it said.
The TIB report said the ruling party men began electioneering months before the announcement of polls schedule while opposition supporters were arrested by police even after the schedule.
As part of the campaign, the ruling party telecast several television programmes highlighting government development activities like 'Thank You PM' and Amra Bangladesher Pakkhe. Telecast expenses of these events were estimated to be around Tk 150 million.
TIB executive director Dr Iftekharuzzaman said all parties participated in the election but level playing field and equal opportunities for all were not observed. Even the voters did not get equal opportunities to exercise their franchise as expected.
"The election was partially participatory, but it was not competitive. The poll results probably surprised everyone," he said.
Addressing the programme, Chairperson of TIB's Board of Trustees Sultana Kamal said: "If everyone does not get equal opportunity, then an election becomes questionable. This general election was defective and controversial."
"There is doubt about fulfilment of public expectations by the parliamentarians elected in the election. It is not a good sign for democracy," she added.
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