BNP on Saturday said the formation of the six-member search committee for the reconstitution of the next Election Commission will be a ''meaningless exercise'' without having a polls-time neutral government in place.
“This search committee has no value. It’s only a pointless exercise,” said BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir.
Talking to UNB over phone, the BNP leader said their party has no interest in the search committee.
"There’s nothing new to say about this matter. We think this committee has been formed as part of their (govt’s) evil design to deceive people again,” Fakhrul observed.
He said people are neither interested in the search committee nor in the Election Commission under the current government.
"A polls-time government, not the Election Commission, is important to people. It has been proved repeatedly that a neutral and credible election is not possible under the current government. People think first a polls-time government must be installed to ensure a credible election. So, the Election Commission is not an issue now,” the BNP leader said.
Once the polls-time impartial government is formed, Fakhrul said a neutral Election Commission can also be constituted by that administration to hold an acceptable election.
Asked whether their party will come up with any formal reaction to the search committee, he replied in the negative, saying, “We don’t have any interest in the matter.”
Earlier in the day, a six-member search committee, led by Appellate Division Justice Obaidul Hasan, was formed to suggest the names of the Chief Election Commissioner and other election commissioners.
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A gazette in this regard was issued by the Cabinet division. The tenure of the incumbent commission, led by CEC KM Nurul Huda, will expire on February 14.
Meanwhile, BNP standing committee member Iqbal Hasan Mahmud Tuku said the search committee is not a subject for their party to talk about. "We’re not interested in it."
Talking to reporters at BNP Chairperson’s Gulshan office, he also said their party’s main focus is on the polls-time neutral government.
Replying to a question, the BNP leader said he thinks the search committee is not a neutral one.
“The position of our party is very clear. We think that no election can be fair under this government. We won’t go to the election if the current regime stays in power during the voting. We’re least bothered about the search committee and the Election Commission under the current government,” he observed.
Tuku said the next election will be held in a fair and credible manner if it is held under a neutral government. “We want a polls-time administration under which people will be able to exercise their voting rights. An interim government like that of 1991, 1996 and 2001 is necessary to hold a credible election and protect people’s voting rights.”
He also said the Election Commission will be able to work neutrally if an impartial government is in place.