Former Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Kazi Habibul Awal told a Dhaka court on Thursday that the 2024 national election in Bangladesh was a “dummy election” and a “mockery.”
He claimed that the lack of political consensus among major parties led to an election devoid of genuine competition.
Habibul Awal made the statement during a hearing before Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Md Mostafizur Rahman.
When the magistrate asked why, given such circumstances, he did not resign from his post, Awal avoided a direct response, saying no CEC in the past had resigned either.
In an attempt to justify his position, Awal referenced irregularities in elections held during the tenure of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and also pointed to the controversial February 1996 election.
The court granted a three-day remand for Habibul Awal in a case filed at Sher-e-Bangla Nagar Police Station.
The police had initially sought a 10-day remand. He was arrested from Dhaka’s Moghbazar area on Wednesday morning.
The case accuses Awal and others of conducting a farcical election that denied citizens their voting rights through intimidation and manipulation, including allegations of nighttime voting.
Earlier this week, another former CEC, KM Nurul Huda, was also arrested in connection with the same case and was placed on a four-day remand.
The case, filed by a member of the BNP’s national executive committee, names 24 individuals including three former Chief Election Commissioners: Kazi Rakibuddin Ahmad (2014 election), KM Nurul Huda (2018 election), and Kazi Habibul Awal (2024 election), holding them responsible for undermining electoral integrity across three successive general elections.
