Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Kazi Habibul Awal has called upon all political parties to take part in the elections and flourish the democracy.
The CEC came up with the call after holding a dialogue with editors and senior journalists working in electronic media and online news portals on Monday.
He has sought advice from electronic media journalists on holding free, fair and acceptable elections.
The dialogue was held at the Election Commission's headquarters in Dhaka's Agargaon with CEC Kazi Habibul Awal in the chair.
Election Commissioners Md Alamgir, Anisur Rahman, Rashida Sultana Emily and Ahsan Habib Khan, were also present there.
During his address of welcome, CEC Awal said, "We want a participatory election to overcome any lack of public trust that may exist. We’ll design our next strategy based on your suggestions.”
From the outset, the new CEC has been calling for political compromise to ensure a participatory election.
"It's not possible for us to force the parties to contest in elections," he said.
He added that if all the parties do not participate in elections, there will be no competition and democracy will not flourish.
"Therefore, our responsibility is to urge all the political parties to participate in the elections," the CEC added.
The commission is holding talks with representatives from different sections of society to seek advice on how the polls, including the 12th Jatiya Sangsad election, can be held in a free and fair atmosphere.
According to the EC officials, the dialogue is aimed at preparing the commission's roadmap for the next general election, due late next year.
The Election Commission invited 38 journalists but 26 of them attended the discussion.
The guests included Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha (BSS) Chief Editor and Managing Director Abul Kalam Azad, bdnews24.com's Editor-in-Chief Toufique Imrose Khalidi and Jagonews24.com’s acting Editor KM Zeaul Haque, Bangla Tribune’s Head of News Masood Kamal.
DBC News CEO and Editor-in-Chief Monjurul Islam, Ekattor Television’s Editor-in-Chief Mozammel Babu, GTV’s Editor-in-Chief Syed Ishtiaque Reza, RTV’s CEO Syed Ashik Rahman and Jamuna TV’s CEO Fahim Ahmed also joined the discussion.
Two weeks after taking office, the new EC conferred with academics on Mar 13 in the first round of talks ahead of the 12th parliamentary election. They called on the commission to work towards winning the trust of all stakeholders and come to an acceptable decision on the use of electronic voting machines.
A former secretary, Awal expressed confidence in his colleagues and said he will take decisions based on consensus.
He said the commission will lay out a strategy for the election after conferring with the stakeholders and identifying the challenges involved.
“The Election Commission does not hold the polls alone. Elections are a huge task. Many are involved in it. Everyone must cooperate and the commission will work to make sure they do,” he said.
