Polls environment to remain under EC control: Zabed Ali

Election Commissioner Brig Gen (retd) Md Zabed Ali on Wednesday said the environment of the countrywide municipal election will remain fully under the control of the Election Commission (EC).

“We hope the situation will remain fully under our control. Mistakes and flaws might have happened in the past…now we want no recurrence of such mistakes in this election,” he told reporters at his EC Secretariat office, UNB reports.

Seeking cooperation from all in arranging the municipal elections peacefully, he hoped that all would cooperate with the Commission in holding a credible election slated for December 30.

Zabed Ali said as the election is going to be held under party line for the first time in the country, election officials will be trained up well to conduct the polls properly and adequate measures for monitoring the polls will be taken.

He said the EC will ensure equal facilities for all candidates. “We’ll treat each candidate equally, not considering his or her affiliation to any political party.”

“If any candidate lodges any complaint with us, the Election Commission will surely take action taking the complaint into cognizance,” he added.

Asked if Jamaat-e Islami can contest the polls, he said now there are some other political parties alongside the 40 political parties registered with the Election Commission.  “Even if they’re not registered with us, there’s no legal bar to their participation in the election. If any party is registered with us, it can use just a particular symbol in the election.”

Out of the country’s 323 municipalities, the Commission will arrange elections to 235 municipalities on December 30.