People now have little trust in polls: EC Mahbub

Bangladesh  desk: Election commissioner Mahbub Talukdar on Sunday said that enacting a law to appoint the chief and other election commissioners was a must because such a law was a constitutional requirement.

`A law has to be enacted to establish the universal voting right and to empower the people,’ Mahbub Talukdar said, adding that the passing of this law would not be possible without an all-party consensus in a multi-party democracy.

He made the remark in a written statement issued from his Election Commission office.

He referred to a by-election to a ward in Chattogram city said in which all the 21 candidates, including the winner, had lost their securities.

‘This is a historic incident and is unprecedented in the world,’ said the election commissioner, adding that in his opinion this indicates a trend which signifies the lack of people’s trust in elections held now in the country.

Mentioning that the controversy over the formation of the next election commission is now at its peak, he said, `In the last 50 years, no law has been enacted to constitute election commissions as per the constitution. Although it is a mandatory provision, all governments have ignored it.’

Referring to some recent elections, Mahbub Talukdar said that elections were now plagued with various maladies and democracy of the country was suffering from their side effects.

`It is not possible for a single physician to cure the maladies. In this case, there is no alternative to forming a medical board. It is imperative to bring the dying democracy back,’ he remarked.