As we stand at this critical juncture, ahead of the national elections, upholding the integrity of said elections remains a matter that demands our utmost dedication — which has been compromised in the past, to say the least.
To that end, it is imperative to heed the Chief Election Commissioner’s recent remarks: Only with the complete cooperation from all political parties involved can we ensure that the upcoming elections will be carried out in a just manner.
Bangladesh has previously fallen victim to various tactics by particular political actors that hindered the election process, eventually leading to our rights as citizens being violated, and that cannot become a pattern that is repeated — especially after the historic resistance that we saw unfold just last year against an obstruction of our democratic values.
While the EC has assured us of their intentions to carry out the elections in a systematic and fair way, the onus falls on all participating political parties to comply with the restrictions and regulations set in place, and to encourage their followers to do the same.
l upcoming elections promise to herald a new, hopeful beginning for our nation, and our success in safeguarding the process will also most certainly help win back public trust in a system that has, historically, been flawed.
We wholeheartedly agree with the Chief Election Commissioner, who stated that parties running for the position of future leaders of the nation have an important responsibility to fulfill here — one that proves to the population at large that we are leaving our futures in capable hands.
We hope that this will not be treated as routine administrative talking points, but rather guidelines to determine a fair culture that we can use to help rebuild Bangladesh on our terms.
After all, it is our democracy that is on the line.
