Secretary General of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, Dr. Shafiqur Rahman in a statement issued on 8th February, 2017 in regards to the newly constituted Election Commission saying that the Election Commission which has been formed recently keeping Khan Mohammad Nurul Huda as the Chief Election Commissioner has failed to meet the public expectations.

“The nation expected that the honorable President Md. Abdul Hamid would constitute the election commission comprising some honest, competent, fair, courageous and acceptable personalities based on the dialogue with the major political parties. But ignoring the mass view and the opinion of the political parties, the honorable President has appointed a disputable man as the chief election commissioner which created controversies in the concern levels already. His appointment has been made as per the desire of the Prime Minister which disappointed the whole nation.

The newly appointed Chief Election Commissioner Khan Mohammad Nurul Huda was an active leader of the controversial ‘Jonotar Moncho’ (a platform of the civil bureaucrats which had been formed defying all the administrative rules in 1996 to topple the then elected government). In an interview with Bengali Daily Prothom Alo published on 8th February he categorically admitted that in his student life he had been elected as the Drama and Cultural Affairs Secretary of the ruling party’s wing Chhatra League. The election commission which has been constituted under his leadership can never be fair and credible. The people have no trust over this commission. An election which is not trustworthy, cannot hold a free, fair and credible election. This controversial election commission actually substantiated the remark of the outgoing chief Election Commissioner who had said in a press brief on last 22nd January that the upcoming election commission would be same as we are.

If the election commission is ought to be formed as per the government’s desire, what was the necessity then of holding these series of dialogues? The newly constituted election commission is no more acceptable at all.

If the names of the personnel are revealed which had been proposed during the dialogue with the political parties and also in the subsequent meeting between the civil societies and the ‘Search Committee’, the countrymen would be able to know the reality and could express their views in this regard. Thus the political parties and the countrymen could play an effective role to constitute a fair and credible election commission. But denying that policies, a hastiness has been made to constitute the election commission with some controversial figures which proved that the present government does not pay heed at all to view and desire of the people.

The authority which fails to form a fair, honest and skilled election commission they will never be able to hold a free, fair and credible election. Such a failure once again substantiated the necessity of forming non-party fair government during the elections.”