Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) KM Nurul Huda said the new Election Commission (EC) should be formed on the basis of consensus of all political parties.
He made the remark in response to a question from reporters at the Election Building after the commission’s meeting on Wednesday.
Responding to a question on the issue, the CEC said, “The formation of the next commission should be based on the consensus of the political parties. Of course, it should be. I support it. There should be a commission so that the new commission is acceptable to all.”
Asked whether the EC has any opinion on the formation of the new commission, he said the Election Commission has no opinion on what the new commission will be.
The commission is not usually asked for its opinion, he said adding that, “If asked, we will sit in the commission and see if we have any opinion.”
Regarding the enactment of the law for the formation of the commission, he said, the parliament makes the law.
“Our laws are through the Ministry of Law. There was no indication from them as to whether the law should be made or not. They said that it should be done in accordance with the provisions of the constitution. This is what, we see on television and in newspapers. We did not have any discussion with them in this regard. There was no discussion with us about making the law”, he mentioned.
Asked how a consensus could be reached, the CEC said the President could do it.
Last time, the President spoke to leaders of all political parties, he said adding that, this is a matter of the President.
“I can't say that. It could be at that stage. We have nothing to do. We have no role to play in forming consensus,” he said.
Asked whether the law would end the crisis of confidence, he said it would depend on what kind of law it would be. This cannot be said before, he mentioned.
In response to another question, the CEC said that the EC is not a place of mistrust at all. It cannot be said that people do not have confidence, people did not say they do not have confidence, he added.
“Some political parties say, they often contest elections, the people do not have confidence. If there is no confidence, how can there be overcrowded voters in the elections that are taking place? There are lines, 60-80 percent of people vote. It is a place of trust,” Huda said.
The CEC also shared its experience with Russia's election observation.
Additional Secretary of EC, DG of NID Wing and other officials of EC were present at the time.