Voting system 'needs complete overhaul, says LGRD Adviser

LGRD and Cooperatives Adviser A. F. Hassan Ariff on Saturday emphasized the necessity of overhauling the entire voting system and said that the election process needs a change and must be brought to a more active and advanced stage.

He made the remarks at a national dialogue titled “Democratic Decentralization and Local Government Reform in Light of Public Aspirations,” organized by the Governance Advocacy Forum at the CIRDAP Auditorium in the capital.

Hassan Ariff added that: “We have seen elections over the past 15 years, but were those really elections? In short, no. The election system has been completely destroyed. It must be restructured. The responsibility for this has been given to the commission, and it is in capable hands. Badiul Alam Majumder has been working for decades to raise awareness about people’s voting rights.”

The adviser further said that ensuring transparency in the judicial appointment process is the responsibility of the elected government, those who are in parliament. Therefore, demands should be made to them. Political parties must be approached with these demands, and a roadmap should be obtained from them.

Hassan Ariff further stated that: “The people of this country are quite aware of local government issues. The district council is a very old structure, and it cannot be dismissed easily. Decentralization must happen beyond Dhaka, at the district and sub-district levels.”