The chief election commissioner, Kazi Habibul Awal, indicated on Monday that the commission would control the media in some cases during the next general election, likely to be held between December 2023 and January 2024.
‘Our position is never against the mass media. We will see if media activities, in the general interest, in the public interest, need to be regulated in some cases,’ CEC said while talking at a discussion organised by the Reporters Forum for Election and Democracy at Nirbachan Bhaban.
About the police obstruction of journalists during elections, he said that the commission would take it seriously if the police were seen restricting journalists’ entry even after the permission of the EC.
Journalists covering the election commission highlighted the obstacles they face while gathering news during various elections, especially the disruption and slow speed of telephone and internet networks.
Awal said that any incident like a disruption or slow speed in the mobile network or internet service during polls raises doubts in the public mind.
‘In that case, the government should figure out whether it is used as a tactic or not,’ he said, adding that the EC is not aware of who creates the disruption in the network.
‘We have to be vigilant about such activities so that they do not create any suspicion among the public,’ he added.
Saying that the media’s role is very important in elections, he said that if transparency could be established through the media, the EC would also have an increased chance of staying above controversy.
‘Today’s media is not like the media we had 50 years ago. Now we have various channels and online media, through which news is known instantly. The media is portraying the position of the Election Commission very positively,’ he said.
Election commissioners Ahsan Habib Khan, Rashida Sultana, Anisur Rahman, and Md. Alamgir, RFED president Sidur Rahman, and general secretary Mukimul Ahsan Himel spoke, among others, at the programme.
This NEWS originally published in Dhaka based News Paper The New Age.
