DHAKA, 22 January 2007 — Bangladesh’s Chief Election Commissioner Justice M.A. Aziz stepped down yesterday to avert further political unrest as the election panel issued official notification canceling the polls scheduled for Jan. 22.
Aziz, who had been on leave since Nov. 23 amid a pressing demand by the Awami League-led opposition alliance for him to quit, met President Iajuddin Ahmed yesterday and tendered his resignation, officials said.
Aziz’s exit will pave the way for an overhaul of the election commission, a longstanding demand of opposition parties, for credible polls.
Aziz said he was stepping down to help create an environment acceptable to all political parties ahead of the polls.
Aziz’s resignation came hours before Fakhruddin Ahmed, the new head of Bangladesh’s caretaker administration, addressed the nation for the first time since assuming office on Jan. 12.
The new interim leader pledged to hold elections as soon as possible. “My administration is pledge-bound to hold the new elections within the shortest possible time,” Fakhruddin said. “Our motto is to hold a free, fair and participatory election,” he added.
The outgoing election panel head was accused by the Awami League-led alliance of bias toward the previous Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) government. “I feel that if I continue in the post of CEC this may give certain political parties the opportunity to create once again new obstacles in the democratic process of holding national elections,” Aziz said in a statement yesterday. More political unrest would be “seriously prejudicial” to the interest of the country, particularly to its economy, Aziz said. “In order to prevent such an undesirable situation from arising, I have resigned from the post of CEC,” he said.
The elections were set for Jan. 22 but were postponed this month by President Iajuddin after the opposition charged him as well with favoring the BNP and launched a series of strikes and blockades.
The demonstrations sparked violence and disrupted life across the country, killing 45 people and wounding hundreds.
Worse was feared before Iajuddin put off the vote, stepped down as the head of the interim administration tasked to hold elections and imposed a national emergency to curb violence.
The reconstitution of the election commission is expected to be followed by the panel redoing the voters’ rolls, which the opposition alliance said had been manipulated.
Aziz said he had done his best to ensure free, fair and impartial elections. “Over the last few weeks the political scenario has changed rapidly,” he said. “I hope that a newly-constituted election commission would be able to hold a free and fair election in due course.”
