EC delays disposal of complaints

Most complaints made to the Election Commission by candidates of the opposition Jaitya Oikya Front, its main component Bangladesh Nationalist Party and others have remained unaddressed.
Neither the commission nor its electoral enquiry committees have so far taken any move to dispose of the complaints piling with the commission although only nine days were left before the December 30 general; election. 
According to commission officials, more than 400 complaints, mostly from opposition Oikya Front and its leading party BNP, were filed only with the commission headquarters while huge number of complaints were also filed with the offices of returning officers across the country.
They said that the electoral enquiry committees sent reports to the commission secretariat on 52 complaints while 122 electoral enquiry committees were working to investigate electoral irregularities in the 11th parliamentary elections.
They said that the committees failed to found accuracy of 34 of the 52 complaints and recommended that the commission should ask law enforcement agencies to take steps for 18 complaints that involved criminal offences.
About delay in disposal of the complaints, chief election commissioner KM Nurul Huda told reporters on December 15 that they would follow the legal framework to dispose of the complaints.
At a press conference at the commission media centre, he said that the commission was forwarding the complaints to the electoral enquiry committees gradually and it had nothing to do over the delay.
According to the commission officials, few ruling Awami League candidates also filed complaints against their Oikya Front contestants while most of the complaints were filed against the candidates of the ruling Awami League and its allies.
Former caretaker government adviser M Hafiz Uddin Khan told New Age on Thursday that delay in giving remedies to the candidates would put in question the electoral process as well as the commission.
He suggested that the commission should dispose of the electoral complaints rapidly giving priority.
Local government expert Tofail Ahmed said that the commission should dispose of the complaints as soon as possible as such disposals of the complaints would help the commission to earn trust of the people.
He said that the commission should forward the complaints to field officers as well as executive magistrates giving necessary directives to resolve the complaints.
He said that it was not clear if the commission’s delay in disposing of the complaints was deliberate.
Following different complaints, the commission on Wednesday asked the authorities concerned to withdraw Gaibandha deputy commissioner, Faridpur additional deputy commissioner and officers-in-charge of Ramna in Dhaka, Sonaimuri in Noakhali, Bijaynagar in Brahmanbaria and Sadar police station in Thakurgaon.
The commission also withdrew Khulna Metropolitan Police commissioner Humayun Kabir, Narayanganj superintendent of police and two other police officers-in-charge after announcement of the schedule for the polls.
On Thursday, inspector general of police Javed Patwary said that the police force took preparation better than ever to undertake responsibility during the elections.
Emerging form a meeting with chief election commissioner KM Nurul Huda at the commission headquarters in the capital, he told reporters that a peaceful situation was prevailing in the country and the elections would be held in a peaceful manner if the situation continued.
Focusing on the allegations made by the opposition parties against the police, he said that the police were taking actions on specific allegations.
He also said that the police and all the administration were now under the commission.

News Courtesy: www.newagebd.net