Principal Advisor Professor Muhammad Yunus has called for effective measures to ensure that irregularities and ‘vote robbery’ in the electoral system never happen again. He said this after receiving the reports of the National Election Investigation Commission for 2014, 2018 and 2024 at the State Guest House Jamuna on Monday afternoon.
Dr. Yunus said, “Although some information was known about the vote rigging earlier, it is important to highlight to the nation how the investigation report has revealed the shameless distortion of the entire election process.” Stating that the entire nation has been punished through the elections held at the expense of public money, he said, the identities and malpractices of those responsible must be revealed so that such incidents do not happen again in the future.
The investigation commission’s report said that the 2014 election was completely rigged and well-planned. Arrangements were made to keep the Awami League in power in 153 seats uncontested and in the remaining seats through artificial competition. In the 2018 election, the results were determined by sealing ballots in the dark of night under the guise of ‘competitive’ elections, and even in some centers, the voter turnout was shown to be over 100 percent.
The report also mentions that the opposition party did not participate in the 2024 elections, and that a ‘dummy candidate’ was used to pretend to compete. The investigation revealed that the administration, police, Election Commission, and a section of the intelligence agency were used in this.
The report has made several recommendations to ensure fair elections in the future. Along with the members of the commission, various advisors to the government were also present during the presentation of the report.