Zilla Parishad Polls Were Peaceful, Disciplined, Says CEC

Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Kazi Habibul Awal said on Monday that the Zilla Parishad elections were held very peacefully and in a disciplined way.

"There was no report of irregularities, violence and riots anywhere. The commission is fully satisfied with the election," he told journalists after the elections closed on Monday afternoon.

The commission organised the elections to 57 Zilla Parishads by using Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) while CCTV cameras were installed in all polling stations across the country.

The commission monitored the polling centrally from its headquarters in Dhaka from 9:00 am to 2:00 pm.

Monitoring the voting process through CCTV cameras was a new experience in conducting the election, the CEC said adding that he believed this will enable them to conduct a free and fair election in the future.

"We have been saying since the beginning that we want transparent elections. Our responsibility is (to ensure) if the voters can exercise their right to vote. You see, no second person went to the polling booth today. Voters voted in a very orderly fashion. We have reinforced the monitoring. The number of cameras has been increased," he added.

Replying to a question on whether it is possible to use CCTV cameras in a large-scale election, the CEC said such cameras are being used in small-scale elections, but the commission will try to enhance its capacity to use them in a bigger election.

Monday’s voting was held in 462 centres having 925 booths across the country while the number of voters was 60,866._UNB