Dr Kamal Hossain-led Gano Forum on Thursday placed a host of proposals before the Election Commission including introduction of a neutral government during the general elections to make the polls a free, fair and participatory ones.

A team of Gano Forum, led by its executive chairman Mokabbir Khan, raised the proposals joining the EC’s dialogue at Nirbachan Bhaban in the city’s Agargaon area.

The party, in a written paper, said since independence, no election commission was able to gain the trust of all the political parties and the masses no matter how it was constituted.

It said the common people and most of the political parties didn’t get the atmosphere to participate spontaneously in the last two parliamentary elections held in 2014 and 2018. So, the elections were not credible to the world community, it added.

“The next parliamentary election is a big challenge for the incumbent commission,” said Gano Forum, who joined the last national election as an ally of BNP in 2018.

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About the use of electronic voting machines (EVMs) in the national elections, the party said it already opposed the EVMs joining the EC’s talks in June last as the common people have little knowledge about the machines.

“We hope that the Election Commission will clarify its stance over EVMs soon before the nation, including every political party,” it said.

Gano Forum also proposed the Election Commission to remain fully independent in case of announcement of election schedules and execution of election rules.

The other proposals include formation of election area-based all-party monitoring teams during the polls, use of transparent ballot boxes in every booth and marking these with numbers, and announcement of the election results by only the Election Commission, not by the returning officers.

Tarikat Federation wants EVMs in 150 constituencies:

Bangladesh Tarikat Federation on Thursday proposed the national election to be held in three phases and the use of EVMs in 150 constituencies in the next general election.

A team of Tarikat Federation, led by its president Syed Nazibul Bashar Maizvandary raised a number of proposals joining the EC’s talks.

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The party also opined that the ceiling of election expenditure for an MP candidate should be raised to Tk 50 lakh instead of the existing Tk 25 lakh.

Tarikat Federation, an ally of ruling Awami League, suggested the commission holds the local body elections fully based on EVMs and ensure voting rights of expatriate Bangladeshis.