ID :
13474
Wed, 07/23/2008 - 11:27
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https://oananews.org//node/13474
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Next polls to set a high standard for future elections: CA
DHAKA, Bangladesh, July 23 (BSS)-Chief Adviser of Bangladesh Caretaker GovernmentDr Fakhruddin Ahmed today expressed the hope that next elections would not only be free, fair and credible but also set a high standard for future polls as well.
The nation will have free, fair, credible and high-standard elections in future on the basis of error-free voters' list withphotographs, he said.
The Chief Adviser said this while speaking as the chief guest at the Closing Ceremony of Voters' Registration Programme organised by Bangladesh Election Commission at a local hotelhere this afternoon.
Chief Election Commissioner Dr A T M Shamsul Huda, Chief of Army Staff General Moeen U Ahmed and UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative Ms Renata Lok Dessallien also spokeon the occasion.
Dr Fakhruddin thanked all concerned including Bangladesh Army, the Election Commission and civil administration for successful completion of the gigantic task of voters'registration within a period of only 11 months.
"It would not have been possible to register 80.5 million voters by using a completely new technology without theirenthusiastic participation," he added.
Describing it as a landmark achievement for the nation, he Said, it is a happy occasion for all citizens who look forward to a free, fair and credible election in December this year and thenation can rightly take pride in this success.
The Chief Adviser said, the demand for an error-free voters' list with photographs was widespread, almost universal and the present voters' list that contains some 80.5 million voters isconsidered to be almost error-free.
The Speaker, Advisers to the caretaker government, election commissioners, Special Assistants to the Chief Adviser, Chiefs of Naval and Air Staff, diplomats, heads of different donor agencies, high civil and military officials were present on theoccasion.
Giving a detailed description on the preparation of voters' list with photographs, the Chief Adviser said, the EC which had decided to prepare a voters' list afresh launched a pilot project in Sreepur, Gazipur with the help of Bangladesh Army in June 2007to this end.
The success of the Sreepur pilot project meant that the EC did not have to look back from that point and the EC did not waste any time and started its work even before officialapproval, which showed its commitment and tenacity.
He said, the project was later approved in August last yearand was finished on July 9 this year.
The Chief Adviser said, the Bangladesh Army implemented the technical task with military precision naming it "Naba Jatra" or New Journey. They went to places which were not easily accessibleto include hard-to-reach people in the voters' list.
The Chief Adviser said, the election officials as well as many employees of different government agencies including teachers were inducted for preparation of the voters' list while more than 300 thousands of them had to be trained to successfullyimplement the huge task.
The NGO community as well as the Imams of mosques were utilized for motivating the people to enroll in the list, he said adding that finally the whole nation participated in this exercise spontaneously that went successful culmination of theproject.
In this connection the Chief Adviser said, the system created a database of the voting age population, which facilitated the issuance of the National ID Cards. A good data- base for facilitating e-governance has also been developed in thisprocess.
Referring to the election roadmap announced by the EC in July last year, he expressed the hope that the Upazila polls willbe held on October this year.
Dr Fakhruddin said, the final voters' list, after the actual checks and corrections, will also be prepared within this period paving the way for the 9th parliamentary election in December2008.
In his address of welcome, the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Dr A T M Shamsul Huda described the voter registration with photographs as one of the very few special events of the countrysince its independence.
The CEC said, with this successful completion of the huge project, Bangladesh has joined the rank of handful of nationshaving similar tremendous achievements.
He said, the voter's data base has to be preserved, updated and perfected for future and the Election Commission will extendits service round the year to the people for this purpose.
Expressing satisfaction over the successful completion of the project, the CEC said, all the way the registration programme was very disciplined and perfect with the spontaneous participation of people from all walks of lives, the armed forces and civiladministration.
Speaking as the special guest Chief of Army Staff General Moeen U Ahmed urged upon all to elect honest and dynamic candidates in the next polls for successful transition tosustainable democracy and sustained good governance.
Laying emphasis on a correct voters' list for holding a free, fair and credible election, Gen Moeen said that there were fakevoters in the electoral role on the past.
He said, the Election Commission and the Bangladesh Army kept the expenditure of the project to the minimum and the project has been implemented at a cost of Taka 446 crore in less than recordone year time.
Gen Moeen said, there was a strong opposition at the very outset of the project, but the EC and Bangladesh Army stoodfirmly against it taking the challenges.
The Chief of Army Staff thanked all concerned specially the donors for their whole hearted support and standing beside thenation at a time when it was needed.
The nation will have free, fair, credible and high-standard elections in future on the basis of error-free voters' list withphotographs, he said.
The Chief Adviser said this while speaking as the chief guest at the Closing Ceremony of Voters' Registration Programme organised by Bangladesh Election Commission at a local hotelhere this afternoon.
Chief Election Commissioner Dr A T M Shamsul Huda, Chief of Army Staff General Moeen U Ahmed and UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative Ms Renata Lok Dessallien also spokeon the occasion.
Dr Fakhruddin thanked all concerned including Bangladesh Army, the Election Commission and civil administration for successful completion of the gigantic task of voters'registration within a period of only 11 months.
"It would not have been possible to register 80.5 million voters by using a completely new technology without theirenthusiastic participation," he added.
Describing it as a landmark achievement for the nation, he Said, it is a happy occasion for all citizens who look forward to a free, fair and credible election in December this year and thenation can rightly take pride in this success.
The Chief Adviser said, the demand for an error-free voters' list with photographs was widespread, almost universal and the present voters' list that contains some 80.5 million voters isconsidered to be almost error-free.
The Speaker, Advisers to the caretaker government, election commissioners, Special Assistants to the Chief Adviser, Chiefs of Naval and Air Staff, diplomats, heads of different donor agencies, high civil and military officials were present on theoccasion.
Giving a detailed description on the preparation of voters' list with photographs, the Chief Adviser said, the EC which had decided to prepare a voters' list afresh launched a pilot project in Sreepur, Gazipur with the help of Bangladesh Army in June 2007to this end.
The success of the Sreepur pilot project meant that the EC did not have to look back from that point and the EC did not waste any time and started its work even before officialapproval, which showed its commitment and tenacity.
He said, the project was later approved in August last yearand was finished on July 9 this year.
The Chief Adviser said, the Bangladesh Army implemented the technical task with military precision naming it "Naba Jatra" or New Journey. They went to places which were not easily accessibleto include hard-to-reach people in the voters' list.
The Chief Adviser said, the election officials as well as many employees of different government agencies including teachers were inducted for preparation of the voters' list while more than 300 thousands of them had to be trained to successfullyimplement the huge task.
The NGO community as well as the Imams of mosques were utilized for motivating the people to enroll in the list, he said adding that finally the whole nation participated in this exercise spontaneously that went successful culmination of theproject.
In this connection the Chief Adviser said, the system created a database of the voting age population, which facilitated the issuance of the National ID Cards. A good data- base for facilitating e-governance has also been developed in thisprocess.
Referring to the election roadmap announced by the EC in July last year, he expressed the hope that the Upazila polls willbe held on October this year.
Dr Fakhruddin said, the final voters' list, after the actual checks and corrections, will also be prepared within this period paving the way for the 9th parliamentary election in December2008.
In his address of welcome, the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Dr A T M Shamsul Huda described the voter registration with photographs as one of the very few special events of the countrysince its independence.
The CEC said, with this successful completion of the huge project, Bangladesh has joined the rank of handful of nationshaving similar tremendous achievements.
He said, the voter's data base has to be preserved, updated and perfected for future and the Election Commission will extendits service round the year to the people for this purpose.
Expressing satisfaction over the successful completion of the project, the CEC said, all the way the registration programme was very disciplined and perfect with the spontaneous participation of people from all walks of lives, the armed forces and civiladministration.
Speaking as the special guest Chief of Army Staff General Moeen U Ahmed urged upon all to elect honest and dynamic candidates in the next polls for successful transition tosustainable democracy and sustained good governance.
Laying emphasis on a correct voters' list for holding a free, fair and credible election, Gen Moeen said that there were fakevoters in the electoral role on the past.
He said, the Election Commission and the Bangladesh Army kept the expenditure of the project to the minimum and the project has been implemented at a cost of Taka 446 crore in less than recordone year time.
Gen Moeen said, there was a strong opposition at the very outset of the project, but the EC and Bangladesh Army stoodfirmly against it taking the challenges.
The Chief of Army Staff thanked all concerned specially the donors for their whole hearted support and standing beside thenation at a time when it was needed.
