Ex-CEC Nurul Huda confesses responsibility for 11th national election

Former Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) KM Nurul Huda has admitted that the 11th national parliamentary election held in 2018 was neither fair nor impartial, calling the process a "farce" and accepting full responsibility for its conduct.

Huda made the statement in court on Tuesday (July 1) while giving a confessional statement under Section 164 of the Criminal Procedure Code before Dhaka Additional Metropolitan Magistrate Md Ziadur Rahman. He was produced before the court following two eight-day remand periods in a case filed by the BNP.

"The 2018 election was not fair, impartial or transparent. It was a farce in which the majority of voters had no participation," Huda told the court.

He was arrested by police on June 22 from the Uttara area of Dhaka after BNP filed a case accusing Sheikh Hasina and three former CECs of rigging and irregularities in three national elections held during the Awami League's tenure.

According to the case, Sheikh Hasina and her government assumed power illegally in 2014 and continued to suppress opposition leaders and activists through abductions, killings, and politically motivated cases. The case further alleges that Huda, appointed CEC in 2017 under the leadership of Sheikh Hasina, oversaw the 2018 election in which the Awami League returned to power through widespread electoral manipulation.

Following his court appearance and confession, Nurul Huda was sent to jail.