Election Commissioner Begum Rashida Sultana is hopeful that the existing uneasy political situation will ease gradually and BNP will participate in the upcoming 12th Parliamentary elections.
Mentioning that the EC have been getting prepared for holding the upcoming general election, Rashida Sultana on Sunday said this while talking to the newsmen at Nirbachan
Bhaban in the capital’s Agargaon on Sunday.
EC Rashida Sultana said, “We hope that BNP will participate in the elections. I have been saying for one and a half year continuously that the party will come to the polls. It is difficult to say even till the day before voting who will go forward how with their political strategy. It is a matter of their own how they are taking this and why and what they are thinking. We are hopeful, the commission believes that they will come.”
Rashida Sultana said, “They can’t have confidence… actually they are not taking this in the heads that the confidence can be kept. The confidence will come once they will take in the heads. I believe they will have confidence at one stage and participate in the election as well.”
The Election Commissioner said, “We have already started a quaternary preparation what needs for holding the election. Efforts are on to prepare guidelines for polling officers. It will be represented in the commission meeting on Monday.”
In reply to a query, she said, “We have held many of elections so far. We did not feel any pressure in those. Still, we have no pressure. But people from outside may guess that there are some kinds of pressure. In the truest sense, no side has yet asked us to do something. Nobody of the commission is under pressure from any side. People must have this belief.”
She said, “Voting is a challenge whether it is holding with EVMs or ballots. We are trying to do what needs to overcome the challenge. A big step to face the challenge is to send ballot papers to all polling centres in the morning of the voting day, except the remote regions. We are thinking over the matters.
