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2024 elections was a 'dummy one', farcical one, admits ex-CEC Habibul Awal
Former Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Kazi Habibul Awal told the court that the 2024 national elections was a "dummy" election and described it as farcical elections.
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2024 elections was a 'dummy one', farcical one, admits ex-CEC Habibul Awal
Staff Correspondent Dhaka
Published: 26 Jun 2025, 17: 44
Former CEC Habibul Awal is taken away from the court to the custody by police members on 26 June 2025. Asaduzzaman
Former Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Kazi Habibul Awal told the court that the 2024 national election was a "dummy" election and described it as farcical elections.
He said the lack of consensus among political parties led to the dummy elections in 2024.
Habibul Awal made the remarks in response to questions from Chief Metropolitan Magistrate of Dhaka, Md Mostafizur Rahman, during a hearing at his court today, Thursday.
Following such reply from Habibul Awal, the court asked him, why he did not resign then? Habibul Awal avoided answering the question, stating that no CEC in Bangladesh had ever resigned in the past.
Speaking at the court, Habibul Awal later also referred to irregularities in the elections held under Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in 1973 and during the controversial one held in 1996.
The court granted a three-day remand for Habibul Awal under a case filed with Sher-e-Bangla Nagar police station, accusing him of depriving the public of their voting rights through a farcical election involving "nighttime ballot stuffing". Police had initially sought a 10-day remand.
The Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) confirmed arresting Habibul Awal under this case from Moghbazar area in the capital on Wednesday morning.
Earlier on Sunday, another former CEC KM Nurul Huda was arrested in connection with the same case. The court granted a four-day remand for him the next day, Monday.
BNP executive committee member Salah Uddin Khan filed the case with Sher-e-Bangla Nagar police station in the capital on Sunday naming 24 individuals including three former CECs on accusation of holding farcical elections.
The case accuses Kazi Rakibuddin Ahmad, who was the CEC during the national elections of 2014, KM Nurul Huda, the CEC during the national elections of 2018, and Kazi Habibul Awal, the CEC during the national elections of 2024.
The CMM court also approved a request made by the police from Sher-e-Bangla Nagar station to add charges to the case under sections of sedition laws.
Other accused in the case filed with Sher-e-Bangla Nagar police station include former prime minister Sheikh Hasina, ousted during the July mass uprising, former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan, former inspectors general of police Hasan Mahmud Khandaker, Javed Patwary, and AKM Shahidul Haque, among others.
Staff Correspondent Dhaka
Published: 26 Jun 2025, 17: 44
Former CEC Habibul Awal is taken away from the court to the custody by police members on 26 June 2025. Asaduzzaman
Former Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Kazi Habibul Awal told the court that the 2024 national election was a "dummy" election and described it as farcical elections.
He said the lack of consensus among political parties led to the dummy elections in 2024.
Habibul Awal made the remarks in response to questions from Chief Metropolitan Magistrate of Dhaka, Md Mostafizur Rahman, during a hearing at his court today, Thursday.
Following such reply from Habibul Awal, the court asked him, why he did not resign then? Habibul Awal avoided answering the question, stating that no CEC in Bangladesh had ever resigned in the past.
Speaking at the court, Habibul Awal later also referred to irregularities in the elections held under Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in 1973 and during the controversial one held in 1996.
The court granted a three-day remand for Habibul Awal under a case filed with Sher-e-Bangla Nagar police station, accusing him of depriving the public of their voting rights through a farcical election involving "nighttime ballot stuffing". Police had initially sought a 10-day remand.
The Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) confirmed arresting Habibul Awal under this case from Moghbazar area in the capital on Wednesday morning.
Earlier on Sunday, another former CEC KM Nurul Huda was arrested in connection with the same case. The court granted a four-day remand for him the next day, Monday.
BNP executive committee member Salah Uddin Khan filed the case with Sher-e-Bangla Nagar police station in the capital on Sunday naming 24 individuals including three former CECs on accusation of holding farcical elections.
The case accuses Kazi Rakibuddin Ahmad, who was the CEC during the national elections of 2014, KM Nurul Huda, the CEC during the national elections of 2018, and Kazi Habibul Awal, the CEC during the national elections of 2024.
The CMM court also approved a request made by the police from Sher-e-Bangla Nagar station to add charges to the case under sections of sedition laws.
Other accused in the case filed with Sher-e-Bangla Nagar police station include former prime minister Sheikh Hasina, ousted during the July mass uprising, former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan, former inspectors general of police Hasan Mahmud Khandaker, Javed Patwary, and AKM Shahidul Haque, among others.
