Voting would be cancelled if booth capture reported during elections: B'desh CEC

Dhaka, Aug 23 (IANS) Bangladesh's Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) AMM Nasir Uddin on Saturday said that preparations are underway to conduct the next general election before Ramadan in February, warning that if any polling booth is captured, voting there will be cancelled, local media reported.

He made these remarks during a meeting on the 13th National Parliament election with election officials in Rajshahi district.

"We do not want to get into the statements of any political party about whether the election will be held or not. We want to move forward according to the chief advisor's words. Preparations for the election have been intensified since receiving the chief advisor's letter," leading Bangladeshi daily Jugantor quoted the CEC as saying.

"Those who are dreaming of grabbing the ballot box will have their dreams shattered," he said.

"If any attempt is made to seize polling centres, (voting in) the entire constituency will be cancelled," the CEC added.

Nasir Uddin further stated that the upcoming elections cannot be held under the proportional representation (PR) system without amending the law since the Constitution does not permit it.

"There is no such electoral system in the Constitution. We cannot go beyond it. There is an ongoing debate among political parties about this, but I do not want to get into it," he added.

Earlier this week, Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) senior leader Nazrul Islam Khan also called the demand by some political parties to introduce a PR election system in the next national election "unrealistic and suspicious."

"When such insistence is placed on this matter (PR), it creates doubts that this could be an unreasonable attempt, leading to serious negative consequences for holding the election," said Khan.

On the other hand, the radical Islamist party Jamaat-e-Islami called for the implementation of the PR system for the upper and lower houses of parliament and recently threatened to launch a movement to press home the demand.

Bangladesh has been gripped by uncertainty over the next general elections since the democratically elected government of Awami League, led by former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, was overthrown during violent protests last year.

The parties that collaborated with Muhammad Yunus to remove Hasina are now at loggerheads over reform proposals and the timing of the next polls.

--IANS

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