Staff Reporter:
Chief Election Commissioner AMM Nasir Uddin on Thursday said the application complexity would be resolved to help journalists obtain press cards and vehicle stickers for covering the national election scheduled for 12 February.
“The process of issuing journalist cards online is not user-friendly. This is our new journey, so a problem has appeared with it.it has become a problem. Since it (online application process) is for the first time, it is definitely a problem. Inshallah it will be resolved,” he said in a meeting with journalist leaders at Nirbachan Bhaban in the city.
The Reporters Forum for Election & Democracy (RFED) arranged the meeting attended by the leaders of the Dhaka Union of Journalists (DUJ), the Broadcast Journalist Centre (BJC) and Bangladesh Secretariat Reporters Forum (BSRF).
About the requirement for journalists to seek the permission of the presiding office for access to the polling stations, the CEC said the presiding officers of the polling stations have already informed that journalists don’t need to seek permission.
Nasir Uddin said the Election Commission has already issued a circular regarding the security of journalists during the elections.
“We have already made it clear. We want to make your work easier. You, but I mean, if you keep your eyes on the elections, it will enhance transparency in my things (works). We want you to see, observe the elections,” he said.
Noting that the EC has identified the problem, the CEC said, “I alone cannot give a decision. I hope that you will get a decision soon, Inshallah, after the commission meeting.”
DUJ President Shahidul Islam and its general secretary Khurshid Alam, RFED President Kazi Jabel, BJC Chairman Rezwanul Haque Raza and its executive Milton Anwar Executive, BSRF President Masudul Hoque and its general secretary Obaidullah Badal, among others, spoke at the meeting moderated by RFED general secretary Golam Rabbani.
