Staff Reporter
The Chief Election Commissioner Kazi Habibul Awal said, the election will be held in due time within the constitutional obligations. He said this on Wednesday (29 November) after holding a meeting with a 10-member delegation of European Union’s Missions in Bangladesh.
After the meeting he talked to reporters and said they are trying their best to ensure a free, fair, peaceful and credible election.
“As we did in the past, we clearly told them (EU team) that we continue our best efforts so that the election would be free, fair, peaceful and credible,” he said.
He said the EC has already come a long way in the preparations for January 7 parliamentary vote.
The country’s main opposition BNP and its allies have refused to take part in the election saying it will be rigged by the ruling Awami League.
The opposition demands that the government resigns and transfer power to a neutral caretaker administration to oversee the polls, a demand rejected by AL.
The CEC said they gave them a clear understanding that the EC is constitutionally obliged to hold the election within the stipulated time.
“I believe that they understood our limitations. If there is any dispute and division in the political arena, we can no way intervene into it,” he said.
Meanwhile, one of the diplomats who attended the meeting said, “Frank and detailed exchange with the Chief Election Commissioner and his team on the prospects of holding free, fair, participatory, and peaceful elections is Instrumental for us diplomats to understand the process and preparations being made.”