Bangladesh Election Commission has the power to hold a free, fair and peaceful election in the country, said S Y Quraishi, former Chief Election Commissioner of India on Sunday.
“The Election Commission has all the power and authority to hold a free and fair election in the country. Why can't they be trusted? I don't see any reason for that,” he said while replying to a query of a journalist after a meeting with the chief election commissioner (CEC) Kazi Habibul Awal and four election commissioners held at the Nirbachan Bhaban in the capital on Sunday.
The EC held a meeting with five election commissioners of India, Maldives, Sri Lanka and Nepal and four representatives of the Election Monitoring Forum.
“I personally think that your (Bangladesh) Election Commission also has all the powers similar with the Election Commission of India,” he said.
“Election Commission of India apparently functions like a caretaker government during elections. After the announcement of the election schedule in India, the commission gets all-time powers. There is no prime minister, no chief minister. No one can take any decision without EC's permission,” he added.
Meanwhile, EC secretary Md Jahangir Alam said there is a favorable environment for announcing polls schedule of the next parliamentary polls.
“According to the constitution, the election will be held within ninety days before the expiry of the current parliament. The Election Commission is completing all the activities of the polls,” he also said.
“How the election system works in their country, how our election commission works - this information was mainly exchanged in the meeting. They wanted to know about the process of holding Bangladesh elections. Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners answered their questions,” he said, adding that they were asked to answer some questions by Bangladesh Election Commission how the electoral system is functioning in their countries.
“Only their and our procedures have been exchanged. We have come to know how elections are conducted in all those countries. If there is an opportunity for adaptation from there, then the Commission will adapt it,” the secretary added.
