Dhaka Bureau: Planning Commission withdrew from Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) project due to financial crisis. Considering the global situation and financial crisis, the government has decided to suspend the new project of buying 2 lakh Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) for the time being. Election Commission Secretary Md. Jahangir Alam told reporters about this decision of the government.
EC Secretary said, we have received the decision from the Planning Commission. They said the project is not being processed at the moment. It is not canceled again. However, the EVM project is not being passed at the moment. Last Sunday (January 22), the Planning Commission formally informed the EC in a letter not to proceed with the project for the time being.
In this regard, Md. Jahangir Alam said, the Planning Commission informed us of the decision, it has been decided not to process the EVM project for the time being considering the financial capacity of the government in the global context and detailed examination. In response to a question, the EC Secretary said, “The commission has already said that if the new scheme is not passed, it is possible to hold elections with the number of EVMs we have.” The rest will be on the ballot. He said, there is a decision to use whatever is possible with the 2018 EVM. It remains. EVM voting can also be done in 50 constituencies; May be in 60-70. We will check the machines, how many machines we have that are usable – they will be used.
It is to be noted that the Election Commission proposed a new EVM project of Tk 8,711.44 million to the government in order to purchase two lakh machines in October last year to be used in the maximum 150 seats in the upcoming National Assembly elections. But the Planning Commission sent it back to the EC mid-last year to cut the scheme due to the global crisis. With this, EC’s EVM project stakeholders sat with their own and external experts and sent some cuts to the project again to the Planning Commission. But the Financial Review and Scrutiny Committee of the Planning Commission questioned the justification of the huge amount of EVM project and sent the project back again with instructions to reduce the costs involved in the purchase of vehicles, drivers, fuel, maintenance, construction of godowns and car garages for EVMs. However, the Election Commission’s EVM project stakeholders expressed their inability to cut the project citing the need for godowns to keep EVMs and drivers for carrying them. In that case, it was not possible to exclude any money in this project of 8 thousand 711 crores 44 lakhs.
On the one hand, due to the impact of the Covid-19 global economy, due to the impact of the post-Covid Russia-Ukraine war, inflation in many countries of the world due to the impact of the global economy, the government takes the policy of cost reduction due to the dollar crisis. As a result, the government did not consider it necessary to pass the new project of 8 thousand 711 crore 44 lakh rupees for the use of EVMs in half of the 150 parliamentary seats in the 12th election.
However, earlier in the middle of last year, the Prime Minister in a party meeting advocated the use of EVMs in national elections. Then the Chief Election Commissioner Kazi Habibul Awal announced that they could not use this machine in all seats but wanted to use EVM in 150 seats. Accordingly, they sent a new project of Tk 8 thousand 711 crore 44 lakh to the Planning Commission for approval. Other ECIs also expressed hope that this project will be passed.
However, they said, if the project is not passed by January 15, it will be difficult to tender for the purchase of EVMs, open the LC, bring it to the country, install it, train the staff etc. Again, since the EVM project was not raised in the Eknek meeting last Tuesday and the Prime Minister did not say anything about it, it was assumed that the project might not be passed. Finally it happened. That is why the Election Commission withdrew from the announcement of EVM voting in 150 seats.
EC officials said that the plan to use EVMs in 150 constituencies in the upcoming parliamentary elections has hit a snag as the project has been suspended. In this case, the EC will decide how many seats can be voted with usable EVMs from the 1.5 lakh machines of the ongoing project. These EVMs were purchased from Bangladesh Machine Tools Factory before the 2018 11th National Assembly Elections.
Ahead of the twelfth national election, the EC prepared a project proposal of Tk 8,711.44 million to buy EVMs and sent it to the Planning Commission on October 19 last year. After several rounds of letters, it was decided to withdraw in a meeting on January 17.
Meanwhile, in the dialogue the Election Commission held with the registered political parties in July last year, the ruling Awami League wants EVM votes in all 300 seats in the upcoming 12th National Assembly elections. On the other hand, BNP has been accusing EVMs of being a ‘rigging machine’. 22 groups gave their views on EVMs in the dialogue. 14 parties, including the Jatiya Party, have clearly expressed their misgivings and doubts about EVMs. Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Kazi Habibul Awal himself said in the dialogue that most political parties do not believe in EVMs.
