EVMs in national election won't be logical: GM Quader

Jatiya Party Chairman GM Quader has said the use of electronic voting machines (EVMs) in the next parliamentary election will not be logical.

"Voting by EVMs will be illogical in a country where symbols are used next to the candidates' names as many voters can't read," he said.

GM Quader was addressing a meeting of the Jatiya Party Dhaka North unit at the party chairman's Banani office auditorium.

The JP chief said no candidate can challenge the results of the election that is held using EVMs for lack of ballot papers. "The results that the voting machines give will be announced. It is like the government wants to send the people of the country to the Mars, but a living environment has not been created there."

GM Quader, also the deputy opposition leader in Parliament, said: "The way the country is being run will end the dream for democracy."

He urged the leaders and activists of the JP to get ready to carry out a struggle for their survival.

The JP leader said there is no democracy in the country as an one-party dictatorship has been introduced. "Autocracy has been given legitimacy by amending the constitution. The country has been under a constitutional dictatorship since 1991."