The New Nation - Internet Edition

Staff Reporter

Army chief General Moeen U Ahmed said yesterday that a history is in the making as the photo voter list project has made the halfway mark and is expected to complete its task within the time frame fixed by the Election Commission.

He was addressing a reception organised by the United Nations Development Programme at the Radisson Hotel to celebrate the halfway mark of the voter registration process. Gen. Moeen said the completion of the photo voter list would enable the people to exercise their right of franchise freely.

Terming the achievements made so far in this remarkable Moeen U Ahmed said this was possible because of the hard work done by the members of the armed forces by sacrificing their leisure and family time.

Gen Moeen praised the UNDP and the donors for their support to make the landmark project a success.

Ms Renata Dessallien, the UN Resident Coordinator told guests at the reception, "We are making a lot of noise today about the voter list because its preparation has been so remarkable and, once completed, I have not doubt it will put Bangladesh on the map globally. You will have a lot of countries knocking at your door for advice on how to prepare a gold standard voter list, she said.

"This is not only a remarkable achievement in its own right, it is also an important landmark on the nation's roadmap to elections later this year. And it is on schedule, it is on target", she said.

The registration of voters with photographs was launched through a pilot project inaugurated by Chief Election Commissioner Dr ATM Shamsul Huda on 10 June 2007 in Sreepour Pourashava in Gazipur district. Since November-December the project has been running in full swing registering 10 million voters each month. On February 27 last the estimated halfway mark was reached - with 40 million voters registered.

Dr Shamsul Huda told the guests at the reception that the project has laid to rest all doubts and misgivings about the response of the people and the practicability of the enterprise. The project would be completed within the fixed schedule, he added.

A short film on photo voter listing was screened at the reception attended by politicians, Chief of Bangladesh Navy, the Bangladesh Air Force, senior government officials, members of foreign diplomatic missions, and journalists.