Chief Election Commissioner Kazi Habibul Awal on Monday said the Election Commission didn’t direct ruling party lawmaker AKM Bahauddin Bahar to leave his home town during the recently held Comilla City Corporation election.

“He (Bahauddin) is undoubtedly a very important person. But the Election Commission can’t order anyone, even an ordinary person to leave his place (permanent address) let alone him (Bahauddin),” said the CEC at a press conference at his office in the city’s Agargaon area.

“We didn’t issue any order to Mr Bahauddin to leave his place. We humbly requested him to assist the Election Commission for the sake of maintenance of the electoral codes. We still have the letter,” he said.

But the news spread everywhere that the EC issued a directive, but can’t implement it, he said.

The CEC said an outsider can be ordered to leave the electoral place, but Comilla is the permanent address of the lawmaker.

The EC instructed local MP AKM Bahauddin Bahar not to stay in the area after EC received the allegation of his campaigning in the Comilla city polls. But he did not leave the area rather filed a writ petition in the High Court.

The EC has been widely criticized for this. Explaining the matter, Habibul Awal said that Bahauddin did not break any law.

The CEC explained that they received an allegation that he was secretly campaigning and so the commission requested him.

“He may or may not keep the request. But it would have been better if he had left,” he said.

He added that EC did not see him take part in public campaigns. “But some say he took part tactically. One of our expectations was that if EC requested him, it will end all confusion,” he added.

Awal said the EC forced an influential minister to leave the area within an hour as he was an outsider.

Election Commissioners- Brigadier General (Retd) Ahsan Habib Khan, Begum Rasheda Sultana, Md Alamgir and EC Secretary Humayun Kabir Khandaker were also present.

The Comilla city election was held on June 15 where Awami League candidate Arfanul Haque Rifat won as mayor defeating his nearest independent rival Monirul Islam Sakku by 343 votes.