Municipal polls cannot be called participatory: Mahbub Talukder

Election Commissioner Mahbub Talukder has expressed doubts about the participation of all parties in the ongoing municipal elections, saying, “The ongoing municipal polls cannot be called participatory.”

He made the remarks at the Election Commission (EC) Secretariat in the capital’s Agargaon on Saturday (January 16) afternoon.

Mahbub Talukder, “Today I visited 18 booths in three polling stations of Savar municipality. As many as 1,232 people out of 7,311 voters have cast their votes in those polling stations till 1:00 pm. I found three polling agents of opposition candidates. But there were no agents anywhere else. Besides, I did not see any poster of the opposition candidate in Savar municipal area. In this case, the election is not called participatory. An election cannot be perfect if it is not participatory.”

Complaining that violence is on the rise in municipal elections, Mahbub Talukder said, “Violence and elections cannot go together. This violence cannot be stopped unless the electoral process changes. All consensus is needed in this regard.

He also remarked that people’s lives are more valuable than any election.