Dhaka, June 27 -- Arrested former Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Kazi Habibul Awal has admitted that the 2024 national polls sans real political participation was ultimately a "dummy and farcical election".

The ex-CEC Awal also confessed that it was his failure to make consensus among the political parties ahead of the highly rigged and manipulated polls.

He made the remarks in response to a question from Dhaka Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Mohammad MostafizurRahman during a hearing at the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate's Court on Thursday.

Highlighting the helplessness of the Election Commission (EC), Awal said without fundamental reforms, it would not be possible to hold fair elections in Bangladesh even in the next 1,000 years.

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