BNP Standing Committee member Nazrul Islam Khan has clarified that the proposal to reintroduce the “no vote” option in elections did not come from the party.
He made the remark while speaking to journalists at the Election Commission (EC) office in the capital’s Agargaon on Sunday.
Regarding the meeting with the EC, Nazrul said, “We mainly came to the Election Commission to learn about its preparations for the upcoming 13th National Parliamentary Election.”
He added, “We have never proposed the ‘no vote’ system. You know, this provision was introduced during the 1/11 caretaker government period. When there is no elected government or parliament, the president can issue ordinances to enact laws. At that time, such an ordinance created the ‘no vote’ provision, which was applied only in the 2008 election.”
“But in our country, very few ‘no votes’ were cast. This was not anyone’s specific demand, rather an idea suggested by a few prominent individuals. Later, when the new government came to power in 2009, it was supposed to approve all ordinances within a month — but it did not approve the ‘no vote’ ordinance. As a result, it never became law. The proposal now under discussion is a completely new one, and it is not our proposal,” Nazrul added.
On the issue of parliamentary constituency delimitation, the BNP leader said, “The EC is working on redrawing constituency boundaries. We came to know on what basis this process is being carried out.”
Nazrul also said the chief election commissioner (CEC) assured them that expatriate voters with National ID cards or e-passports would be able to vote.
“BNP has demanded that those holding regular passports also be brought under the voter list,” he added.
Responding to a question about seat-sharing, Nazrul said, “Discussions on seat adjustments have not yet taken place within the party. These will be discussed after the election schedule is announced.”
Earlier, a BNP delegation led by Nazrul met with CEC AMM Nasir Uddin.
The delegation also included BNP Chairperson’s Adviser Ismail Jobiullah and Senior Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi.
Senior EC officials, including the election commission secretary, were present at the meeting.
LND/SAE
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