Assistant Secretary General of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, Maulana Rafiqul Islam Khan has issued the following statement on 30 October 2018 expressing deep concern as the cabinet in its meeting on 29th October approved major changes to the Representation of the People Order (RPO), paving the way for the use of Electronic Voting Machines (EVM) in polls.
“Ignoring the views of the opposition parties, civil societies and experts, the cabinet approved major changes to the Representation of the People Order (RPO), keeping the options for the use of controversial Electronic Voting Machines in polls. I am expressing my concern in this regard.
Defying the views and recommendations of all quarters, the government has taken the decision in favor EVM use in the next polls. Undoubtedly there are some bad intentions behind such move. The government and its subservient election commission are hatching conspiracies to ensure the victory of Awami League led grand alliance.
The reckless attitude of the government and the election commission for using EVM hints at some hidden political purposes. They are desperate to win the next parliament polls by fooling the countrymen and also by adopting some tricky strategies.
EVM technologies have become outdated in different developed countries across the world. They have rejected EVM technologies as it failed to ensure to hold a fair and credible election. Even questions have been raised in neighboring India about the EVM errors and its consequences in the election. We also observed similar errors in several places of Bangladesh, when the government used these EVM technologies experimentally. So, the initiative of using of such faulty technologies in the parliament question is intentional, concerned experts opined.
Under the circumstances, I am urging the concerned authorities to repeal the cabinet decision of using EVM in the parliament election. Otherwise, the people would be compelled to reject it widely.
