Staff Reporter :
Election Commissioner Md Anisur Rahman expressed the concern that the country may become isolated from the rest of the world without fair elections, potentially leading to stagnation in all sectors, including business and commerce.
“Simply conducting an election that is free, fair, and acceptable in our view is not enough.
The whole world is watching us. If we fail to conduct a fair and acceptable election, the future will be uncertain,” he said at the inauguration of a training program for executive magistrates held at the Bangabandhu International Conference Center on Sunday (31 December), ahead of the 2024 Bangladesh election.
“Everything in Bangladesh, especially the financial, social, business, and commerce sectors, may come to a halt. Bangladesh might even become isolated from the rest of the world,” he added.
He further mentioned that the election is only six days away and stressed the need for the election to be fair and participatory at any cost.
Executive magistrates have been in the field since 28 November to ensure compliance with the code of conduct. EC Anisur appreciated their relentless efforts.
“We have noticed that the magistrates are continuing their efforts to enforce the code of conduct.
At the same time, they have dealt with complaints that came to them and the ones they could not resolve themselves or with the returning and assistant returning officers ,” he said.
“These issues have been referred to the Electoral Inquiry Committee.
They have requested the presence of some individuals, issued show-cause notices, and sought written explanations. These matters have been resolved in this way.
Some cases have come to us, and we have addressed them,” he added.
EC Anisur concluded that the Election Commission is relentlessly trying to ensure a fair election.
“This election has seen significantly less violence and fewer violations of the code of conduct than previous elections. But we do not want to be complacent about it,” he added.
A total of 431 magistrates participated in the first phase of training.
