No staged election this time: CEC

Bangla Press Desk:   Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) AMM Nasir Uddin on Thursday said this time there would be no ‘staged’ election as seen in the past, assuring that the Election Commission (EC) is committed to ensuring fairness and justice in the electoral process.

The CEC made the remarks on the fourth day of hearings on appeals against the acceptance and rejection of nomination papers after visiting appeal booths at the Election Commission Secretariat in Agargaon of the capital Dhaka.

CEC Nasir Uddin said all appeals filed against the validation or cancellation of nominations would be resolved strictly on legal grounds.

Emphasising that the Election Commission believes in justice, he said everyone would receive justice.

The CEC also assured that the commission would ensure a level playing field for all candidates.

He added that the entire appeal hearing process would be conducted in a highly transparent manner, with each application examined thoroughly before any legal decision is taken.

Meanwhile, from early morning, applicants from different parts of the country have been arriving at the EC to file appeals.

The appeal submission process will continue until 5:00pm on 9 January.

Hearings on the appeals are expected to be held between 10 and 18 January at the auditorium (Basement-2) of the Nirbachan Bhaban.

Over the past three days, a total of 295 appeals have been filed—131 on Wednesday, 122 on Tuesday and 41 on the first day, Monday.

Earlier, on the final day of scrutiny on 4 January, returning officers and assistant returning officers declared 1,842 nomination papers valid and rejected 723 out of a total of 2,568 nominations for the 300 parliamentary constituencies.

BP/TD