& çâÌæÚUæð´ ·¤è ¥ôÚU Îð¹Ùæ ÁæÚUè ÚU¹ð´ ¥ÍæüÌ ¥ÂÙð ÜÿØ ÂÚU ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´Ð ãæÚU Ù ×æÙð´, €UØô´ç·¤ ·¤æ× ·¤ÚUÙð âð ¥æÂ·¤ô ©gðàØ ·¤è Âýæç# ãôÌè ãñ ¥õÚU ÁèßÙ ·¤æ ¹æÜèÂÙ ÎêÚU ãôÌæ ãñÐ ÖÜð ãè ÁèßÙ ×ð´ ç·¤ÌÙè Öè ·¤çÆÙæ§ü €UØô´ Ù ¥æ°, çÁ™ææâæ ¥õÚU ©ˆâæã ÕÙæ° ÚU¹ð´Ð ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´, ÜÿØ ã×ðàææ ¥æÂ·Ô¤ Âæâ ãôÌð ãñ´ çÁ‹ãð´ ÂæÙð ·Ô¤ çÜ° ÂýØæâ ¥æÂ ·¤Öè Öè àæéM¤ ·¤ÚU â·¤Ìð ãñ´Ð

EC wins kudos for tough stance

SHAKHAWAT LITON
The Election Commission (EC) deserves applause for the way it conducted Chittagong City Corporation (CCC) elections, but the attitude of the local administration towards assisting the EC and some controversial moves the administration had taken have left some question marks.
Unwanted interference and partisan attitudes of the local administration in some cases, however, did not do much damage thanks to a strong watch by the EC.
An uncompromising EC has finally succeeded in presenting a free, fair and violence-free election to re-establish its independent image, having seen its image dented after the much-talked-about Dhaka-10 by-elections marred by widespread irregularities and the government's non-co-operation.
But, for that, it had to initiate some stern actions against electoral irregularities. However, it has again failed to check unauthorised spending of money in the polls, as what both the main rivals have spent far exceeds the election expenses ceiling.
It stuck to its guns and was uncompromising when it came to addressing election-related irregularities. It ordered the government to withdraw the Chittagong Metropolitan Police commissioner after finding him guilty of failing to discharge his duties impartially and of harassing opposition workers in the run-up to the polls.
The government that declined to carry out the EC order on deployment of army personnel in each polling centre in Dhaka-10 byelections promptly responded to the EC order this time and removed the CMP commissioner the same day.
However, the CMP commissioner after his withdrawal said he had acted in line with the government directives. Now, did he mean that the government had directed him to harass opposition workers in the lead-up to the polls?
The Chittagong divisional commissioner also interfered in the electoral affairs by holding a high-level meeting that took some decisions that only the returning officer (RO) is authorised to do, but the EC warned him not to overstep his limits.
The EC was also not happy with the performance of RO and the day before the voting it blasted him for appointing unqualified persons as polling officials, some of whom were supporters of a ruling BNP-backed professional body.
The chief election commissioner (CEC) rang the RO up on being informed of the matter through newspapers and chided him. The EC ordered for replacement of those unqualified polling officials with efficient persons. The CEC even said he would have changed the RO if there were time.
RO Golam Quddus, also addi-tional divisional commissioner of Chittagong, relocated a polling centre without EC's approval only to move it back to its previous place after an EC directive.
Still, questions swirl over the RO's suspending announcement of the election results for one and half an hours and the slow pace of declaration of the results. The EC is still in the dark about what had happened during those hours.
The EC secretariat, controlled by the Prime Minister's Office, is tasked with overseeing the election-related functions and inform the EC of any irregularities. But, the EC came to know about them only when complaints were lodged and the press ran reports.
The role of the secretary to the EC in conducting the CCC polls has also been questioned, as his activities during the polls were flimsy. The secretary did not attend any meeting of the EC on going about the polls.
The CCC polls however once again re-emphasised the demands for reforms to the EC to make it stronger and let it have an independent secretariat with adequate manpower and logistics.
The EC should also be provided with adequate officials and amendments should be brought to the electoral rules so that it can appoint its own officials as returning officers, who play a vital role in holding elections.