STAFF CORRESPONDENT

Journalists engaged in election reporting have urged the Election Commission to withdraw the provision requiring them to inform presiding officers before entering polling centres and the rule limiting their stay inside polling booths to 10 minutes.

They said such restrictions would hinder transparency and independent observation of the electoral process.

They made the demands at a views-exchange meeting titled “Review of the Election Commission’s Proposed Guidelines for the Media,” held at The Daily Star Centre in the capital yesterday.

Reporters Forum for Election and Democracy (RFED) and the Broadcast Journalist Center (BJC) jointly organised the event with support from BBC Media Action.

Speaking as chief guest, Shipping Adviser Brig Gen (retd) Sakhawat Hossain said “I would urge the Election Commission -- there’s still time -- to sit and review the issues. My request is: make it as transparent as possible. If you have to take two steps forward to achieve that, please do so.”

He said, “The Election Commission says they will hold the best election of the century. We also want that. But the people you will be relying on are -- the media. And we should be absolutely crystal clear.”

On the issue of media guidelines, Sakhawat said, “The rule requiring journalists to inform the presiding officer before entering polling centres doesn’t seem appropriate. When the EC issues accreditation, it already grants permission. These are not major issues. The EC should discuss such matters directly with journalists. We used to hold several meetings with the media.”

Presenting the keynote paper, RFED President Kazi Emad Uddin Jebel said the media guidelines, issued on July 23, lack any provision for journalists’ safety.

RFED General Secretary Golam Rabbani even after RFED rejected the guidelines on August 6, the EC has not given any clear response in the past two months.