There are huge ‘costs’ involved in the way the government wants to conduct elections. It is not just Tk 1,500 crore for the Election Commission or Tk 381 crore for DC and UNO cars. If BNP cannot be brought to the polls then they will try their best to thwart it. And the government will not just sit idly by. This will result in clashes and violence. This will definitely mean loss of life and property. The financial cost of property damage can perhaps be calculated, but if there is loss of life how do we calculate the ‘cost’?
Moving forward towards another election like 2014 means that international observers will stay away from this election. If the elections are held unilaterally, it will mean that the country will go through unacceptable elections for the third time. Elections were held in two South Asian countries, Nepal and Maldives, in November last year and September this year respectively. No questions were raised on those elections and they were internationally recognized.
Elections are to be held in Pakistan under the caretaker government in January next year and in India in the middle of this year. There is no disagreement or disagreement on how elections will be conducted in Pakistan or India. In South Asia, Bangladesh faces the most problems regarding elections. After two elections that lacked credibility and the overall democratic space in the country was shrinking, Bangladesh is now considered a mixed democracy. And now if elections like 2014 are held again, there are questions whether Bangladesh will fall into the democratic category or not. Name the countries with which Bangladesh will join, to what level will Bangladesh fall? What is the ‘price’ of this insult?