AL can contest elections: CEC

Chief Election Commissioner AMM Nasir Uddin says that the Awami League cannot be excluded from contesting elections unless the government or the court takes a decision on the matter.
He made the comments at the beginning of a discussion at the Chattogram Circuit House on Monday morning, reports bdnews24.com.
The meeting was organised with local election officials in the Chattogram region to discuss the updating of the voter list and the upcoming 13th national parliamentary election.
Asked about whether the recently-ousted Awami League will be able to participate in the next elections, the CEC said: "It will basically be a political decision. I have also heard that some have filed cases with the court seeking an order to bar this party from participating in the elections. If the court makes such a decision, we will take action according to it. Otherwise, it is a political decision.
"Everyone has the constitutional right to form a party. There are different rules and regulations regarding how a party can get its registration. If a party fulfils the conditions, we register it. If it does not fulfil the conditions, we do not. In this case, the old parties that you are talking about were registered long ago."
He said, "So if the government does not ban a party, we cannot cancel their registration. It is a political decision or a legal decision. It will have to be one of these two, based on which we may take action. From our side, we do not want to comment on this."
"I have been saying this from the very beginning - a political decision or a court decision. We are waiting for either."
Nasir said: "Awami League is a registered party according to the rules and regulations. The decision on whether to contest the elections is basically up to them. If they decide they will not take part, we cannot force them.
"If they decide to do so and if the politicians do not take any decision or there is no decision from the court, then we are undone. We have inherited this. We did not make it. They have been registered since 1972. We cannot exclude them. If the government declares a ban, then they cannot be registered. And if the court says so, that is another matter. We do not want to comment on this from our side."
Asked about the ongoing discussions about extending voting rights to 17-year-olds, he said. "We are not saying no. The Constitution will have to be amended again. The Constitution says 18 years. If it is decided to change the constitution and make it 17 years, we will work accordingly."
"We follow the Constitution. We do not follow anyone else's instructions. If there is a change in the Constitution to make 17 the age of voter eligibility, then the RPO will have to be amended. Amendments will have to be brought in the Voter List Act."
In response to another question, the CEC said: "I am not thinking of taking any action against anyone from the previous Election Commission. We have not made any such decision. We will decide after seeing what the Reforms Commission recommends."
"You have seen the elections that were held before the last three elections. You have seen the elections of 1991, 1996, 2001 and 2008. You know why the last three elections happened. We do as well. That situation does not exist now."
Stating that the Election Commission is completely independent, Nasir said: "There is no pressure from the right, left, up or down here. We are only under the pressure of our own conscience. We are under the pressure of working within the laws, rules, the Constitution and regulations.
"There is no pressure from any other external force on us, unlike the previous three commissions. That is why those three elections were held. It is possible to hold good elections in this country. We have done it in the past."