Seeking of SC rule on polls not held in 90 days is a matter of govt: CEC

FE Team | Published: November 14, 2007 00:00:00 | Updated: February 01, 2018 00:00:00

To seek the direction of the Supreme Court (SC) on election not being held within the constitutionally mandated 90 days time is a matter of the Caretaker Government (CG), not of the Election Commission (EC), said CEC Dr ATM Shamsul Huda Tuesday, reports UNB.
"It's the government's matter that it has passed off its 90 days tenure, not any matter of the EC to think of," he told the reporters.
The CEC made the remarks in reply to queries from the journalists, as the CG has overrun its tenure, as stipulated in the Constitution, without being able to hold the polls for problems arising out of the past political crisis.
He faced the question, as some of the lawyers have expressed opinions that the EC should seek the SC's direction, as the general election did not take place within 90 days of dissolution of the 8th Parliament.
As per provision of the Constitution regarding the interim government, its tenure is of 90 days, and national elections would have to be held within the period.
But the 1/11 changeover set off a political purge that landed the country's main political figures of the ruling class in jail, and the CG continued reforms to create a 'level playing filed' before holding the elections.
Asked about holding the national and upazila elections on a same date, CEC Huda said, the EC has not yet received any proposal from the government.
"We will look into the matter if any proposal comesâ€¦ There are also matters of our own considerationâ€¦ The political parties' opinions will also have to be taken in this regard," he said.
Asked whether the EC is capable of holding the two elections concurrently, the CEC said, opinion of their field-level officers would have to be taken whether there were such instances in the past and what would be the problem.
The number of ballot boxes would be doubled and there would have to be two kinds of ballot paper, if the national and upazila elections take place on same date, he said, adding that the good point of the system is that the expenditure of holding elections would be reduced.
About holding the municipality elections, he said, the date-expired elections would have to be held all together after completing the voter list.
Hinting that the schedule of city corporation elections could be announced next March, the CEC said, the voter list of Dhaka City Corporation (DCC) would be completed by January 31.
"It is being expected that the voter list of other city corporations will also be completed by that time, and it will take around one month for the correction and finalisation of the list."
Asked about the emerging demand for not registering Jamaat-e-Islami with the EC as political party since it is based on religion and consists of 'war criminals' and 'anti-liberation elements', the CEC said, it would not be wise to say now, as the dialogue on electoral reforms is still on with the political parties.
The EC is compiling the suggestions of the parties, and the compiled materials would be circulated after completing the dialogue, he told the reporters.
"Then we will again sit with the political parties altogether to finalise the draft of reforms, and what will be coming from the sitting will be sent to the governmentâ€¦ There will be the standards of getting registered, and those standards will determine who will be registered and who will not," CEC Huda added.