No scope for fresh poll: CEC

Chief election commissioner (CEC) KM Nurul Huda on Monday ruled out the possibility of holding the just-held general elections afresh, saying it is an "acceptable" one.

"We would not hold fresh elections. There is no scope for doing it again," he said.

He made the remarks while responding to questions of reporters at a press briefing over the polls at the Commission.

Hours after the elections ended, the main opposition alliance Jatiya Oikya Front (JOF) demanded re-elections after rejecting results of the 11th parliamentary polls. The alliance also brought allegation of widespread vote rigging in various forms before and during the polls.

The Commission chief also rejected the allegation of ballot stuffing on the night before election. "It is completely untrue."

About massive difference between the contesting candidates, he said, people's vote caused the difference and this was not their affairs.

He said the Election Commission (EC) is satisfied with the elections, which took place on December 30 across the country in a peaceful, participatory and festive environment.

He said that there was no major incident reported, excepting some isolated ones that killed 17 people.

"We're sorry for that and we'll investigate these incidents," he said.

Besides their monitoring, they have been observing the media outlets and observers' observations and found no major cases of irregularities, Mr. Huda said.

Expressing complete satisfaction over the elections, he said the voter turnout in the polls was 80 per cent, which proves the enthusiasm of the voters.

The CEC said they had deployed law enforcement people from various agencies amid the demand for various political parties to create congenial atmosphere for voting.

He thanked law enforcement people, polls officers and political parties for cooperating in holding the elections successfully.

He expressed his hope that the new government after the December 30 elections would take the country's progress further ahead.

Election commissioners and its secretary were also present at the briefing.

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