Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Kazi Habibul Awal and four other election commissioners resigned on Thursday.
According to a press release issued by Bangabhaban Press Wing on Thursday afternoon, the President accepted resignation of Election Commissioner Brig Gen (retd) Ahsan Habib Khan, Rashida Sultana, Md Alamgir and Anisur Rahman.
At a press conference at Election Commission (EC) office, the CEC announced the resignations saying "We submitted our resignation letters to the EC secretary. He will hand the letters to the President."
Awal said they resigned in the wake of the changed situation.
He said, "The 12th general election was held on January 7, 2024, in which out of 44 registered parties, 28 parties participated, but the main opposition BNP and its like-minded parties did not participate. The election was not inclusive in that sense."
He said, "There was no constitutional basis to postpone or annul the general election. That is why many people are blaming the election commission. The constitution clearly mentioned when election can be postponed, for what reason and for how many days."
"In the past, no election commission r canceled an election or resigned," Awal said.
He said, "The elections in 299 constituencies of the recently dissolved Parliament were held on the basis personal competition between candidates and not between political parties."
Awal said, "The Election Commission might have been unable or unwilling to hold impartial, acceptable selections for various reasons. We believe that in the existing system, an EC will not able to hold free, impartial, black money and muscle-free elections.
"Besides fundamental reforms in the electoral system, changes in political culture and candidate behavior will certainly be needed to hold free and fair elections," he said.
Election Commissioners Md Alamgir and Ahsan Habib were present at the press conference but Rashida Sultana and Anisur Rahman were not present.
Agitated people threw shoes at the cars carrying Rashida Sultana, Md Alamgir, and Anisur Rahman when they were leaving the Election Commission.
Earlier, the CEC and four election commissioners held a farewell meeting at the Election Commission Bhaban. Security was beefed up in and around the office.
On Wednesday, Kazi Habibul Awal held a closed-door meeting with the four election commissioners at the EC Secretariat.
An EC insider revealed that the CEC and the four commissioners were preparing to resign.
The demand for their resignation gained momentum after former prime minister Sheikh Hasina fled to India.
