Dhaka, June 26 -- Arrested former Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Kazi Habibul Awal on Thursday described the 2024 national election as a 'dummy and fabricated exercise', citing the failure of political parties to reach a consensus ahead of the polls.

The former CEC said this in his confessional statement to the court of Dhaka Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (CMM) Mohammad Mustafizur Rahman during a remand hearing on Thursday.

As the court asked him why he had not resigned, Awal tactfully avoided the query saying that no CEC had stepped down in Bangladesh's history.

Later, the ex-CEC put cited the elections held during Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's regime and irregularities occurred during the 1996 election.

The Dhaka court placed Awal on a...