Newly sworn-in chief election commissioner AMM Nasir Uddin on Sunday vowed to organise a free, fair, impartial and acceptable election soon after completing some reforms.
The pledge came in response to questions from journalists following the oath taking ceremony of the chief election commissioner and four election commissioners at the Judges鈥� Lounge of the Supreme Court on the day.
鈥業 see this responsibility as a great opportunity in my life. The people of the country are disenfranchised. They fought hard for a free and fair election. Many movements have taken place over the years and many have given blood. I am committed to giving them a free, fair and acceptable election and I will do my best to do so,鈥� he said.
鈥業 am confident that I can do it. I have a very strong team in the Election Commission. We will give this nation a beautiful election with the cooperation from the country鈥檚 people and political parties,鈥� he said.
In answer to the question whether the election would be held before the reforms, he said, 鈥楻eform is an ongoing process, but if we want to hold elections, some necessary reforms will be needed.鈥�
鈥業f we want to hold elections, we have to include the young generation, who are looking forward to vote year after year, in our voter list. Some reforms are also necessary, which are hopeful to carry out very soon as a reform commission is already working,鈥� he added.
Stating that the election would be organised with participation from the political parties, he said, 鈥榊ou [people and political parties] rest assured. Our intentions are fair and we want the political parties which have been fighting for 15鈥�16 years to get back the right to vote with us. We will cooperate in implementing their demand. We are committed to the nation.鈥�
When asked how long it would take to carry out reforms and organise elections, he said, 鈥榃e cannot say anything now with the timing. First I have to understand the responsibilities.鈥�
Earlier, newly-appointed CEC Nasir Uddin and four election commissioners Md Anwarul Islam Sarker, Abdur Rahmanel Masud, Begum Tahmida Ahmad, and former brigadier general Abul Fazal Md Sanaullah took oath at the Supreme Court.
Chief Justice Syed Refaat Ahmed administered the oath of office to the chief election commissioner and election commissioners, while Supreme Court registrar general Aziz Ahmed Bhuiyan conducted the function.
Judges of the Appellate Division, members of the Election Commission Search Committee, officials of the Election Commission and employees of the Supreme Court Registrar General office, among others, were present.
On November 21, president Mohammed Shahabuddin appointed former secretary Nasir Uddin as the new CEC and four others as election commissioners.
The Cabinet Division issued separate gazette notifications to this end on that day.
The new Election Commission has been constituted on the basis of the recommendations of the six-member search committee.
Earlier on September 5, then chief election commissioner Kazi Habibul Awal and all four election commissioners, Ahsan Habib Khan, Rashida Sultana, Md Alamgir and Anisur Rahman, resigned.
Their resignation came a month after Sheikh Hasina resigned as prime minister and fled to India on August 5 amid an unprecedented student-people uprising, ending the 15-year Awami League regime.
On August 6, the president dissolved the 12th parliament which was formed through the January 7 one-sided election conducted by the Awal-led election commission.
Before the resignation, Awal at a press briefing said that they were resigning from their posts due to the country鈥檚 changed scenario.
He said that holding an election was a very difficult task, and all the blames or responsibilities for an unacceptable election had always been heaped upon solely on the Election Commission.
The Awal commission organised the 12th parliamentary polls amid a large-scale boycott by opposition parties and voters. Drawing harsh criticisms, the polls were called a 鈥榙ummy election鈥� as Awami League鈥檚 officially announced candidates contested against own party people who stood as independent candidates in most constituencies.
