There was no alternative to Jan 5 polls: outgoing CEC

Outgoing chief election commissioner Kazi Rakibuddin Ahmad on Wednesday said there was no alternative to holding the general elections on January 5, 2014 for the continuity of the constitution.
‘It was a challenge for us to hold January 5 election as political parties failed to reach an understanding. That was a crucial juncture for the nation, and we had no other option but to hold the election to ensure continuity of the constitution… If there was no election an unconstitutional situation might occur,’ he said at a press conference at the media centre of the Election Commission at Agargaon.
Replying to a question about 153 lawmakers being elected without any contest in the controversial election, he said, ‘If anyone leaves ground, the opponents will surely score goals. It is a political game. There are other instances of being elected uncontested in the developed countries.’
He termed the election officials brave for carrying out the January 5 election boycotted by all opposition parties including the Bangladesh Nationalist Party.
When drawn his attention to the claim of the civil society that the electoral system deteriorated, he said that the electoral system had not deteriorated but violence was bar to fair election.
When asked if he made any decision under pressure, he said that he did not receive any call from any quarter nor received any pressure from any side. 
‘I delivered my duties neutrally during my tenure and the commission has no failure,’ he said, adding that electoral violence discouraged people to participate in polls.
Three of four election commissioners — Mohammad Abu Hafiz, Md Zabed Ali and Md Shah Nawaz — were also present at the briefing.
The CEC and three other commissioners completed their five-year tenure on Wednesday while the rest one commissioner would complete his tenure on February 14.
On Monday, president Abdul Hamid appointed former bureaucrat KM Nurul Huda as the new chief election commissioner and former bureaucrats Mahbub Talukder and M Rafiqul Islam, former district judge Bagum Kabita Khanam and retired brigadier general Shahadat Hossain Chowdhury as election commissioners. 

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