Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Kazi Habibul Awal on Tuesday apologised for his rifle against sword comment during his ongoing dialogue with political parties.
"Sometimes we make mistakes. Sorry for that. I went for humour. I didn't mean it. Please forgive and excuse me for that," he said after his meeting with Islami Oikya Jote.
The CEC came under fire after the controversial comment he made on Sunday during talks with National Democratic Party, reports UNB.
Habibul repeatedly said that his comment about responding to swords with rifles during elections was a joke.
"You must understand that a Chief Election Commissioner can never say this seriously. I may be undereducated. Even a less educated person cannot say such things. I said it as a joke." he said.
"A Chief Election Commissioner can never mean it. And if I did, I would have told everyone to collect weapons from day one. You collect weapons and strengthen yourself. But I never said this. We often say that there is a word in English, humour, which means joke," he added.
On Tuesday, he advised the political parties to come to the field with strong morale and strength.
The CEC asked the political parties to hold inter-party dialogue and try to reach a consensus on some questions as it is a big problem.
He also said it becomes difficult for the Election Commission alone to solve it without concerted efforts of all.
An 11-member delegation led by Chairman of Islami Oikya Jote Maulana Abul Hasanat Amini, participated in the dialogue where four election commissioners and senior officials also were present.
A meeting with Bangladesh Kalyan Party was scheduled in the morning. But the party did not join the dialogue.
Earlier, Bangladesh Muslim League also did not participate in the dialogue.
EC has completed dialogue with eight parties so far and it is scheduled to sit with other 29 parties until July 31.
