CEC attacked election commissioner’s post: Mahbub Talukdar

Sayeed Muhammad of DOT
Election Commissioner Mahbub Talukdar protested the chief election commissioner’s response to his statement: there is no level-playing field in the election.
In an event at Rangamati on Tuesday, Chief Election Commissioner KM Nurul Huda gave a speech that attacked the very post of the election commissioner, said Talukdar in a written statement yesterday, reports BDnews.
Mahbub, who has engaged in a controversy for going against the decisions of the rest of the Commission, read out the rejoinder to reporters at his office in Dhaka. “On Tuesday in Rangamati, the honourable Chief Election Commissioner KM Nurul Huda called me a liar for stating there is no level playing field in the election. I strongly protest against his statement, as by saying that, he has wounded the very position an election commissioner. We must not forget that all election commissioners, including the CEC, are equal,” he said.
Election officials have ensured an equal opportunity for everyone, Huda said in a media briefing on Saturday.
On Monday, a delegation of Jatiya Oikya Front met the EC, placing their complaints of being attacked during campaigns. Afterwards, Mahbub issued a written statement saying he does not believe that a ‘level-playing field’ had been created for the election.
However, the CEC termed the statement something ‘personal and untrue’, during an event in Rangamati, expressing his dissatisfaction over the ‘level playing field’ in another event in Chattogram on the same day.
“The honourable CEC has made negative remarks about me earlier in several public occasions. I have never protested his statements. But I could not help myself from protesting as he said I lied when I said there is no level playing field,” the statement adds.
He urged journalists to decide on his statement on the ‘level playing field’.
“In response to the queries of reporters, I ask them to consider the matter with your conscience. I am repeating it; please ask your conscience if there is a level playing field in the election or not?”