Election commission (EC) is getting appeals for registration of new political parties. A lot of parties have applied for new registration ahead of upcoming parliamentary elections.
Election Commission officials said, none of the over six dozen prospective parties, applying for registration, are likely to receive approvals ahead of the upcoming eleventh parliamentary elections.
EC Secretary Helaluddin Ahmed said that getting registration of new parties is difficult, as they do not meet the required criteria.
“Some of the parties have only one leader, some do not have an office, while others do not have a party constitution,” he said.
A total of 38 political parties registered with the EC in 2008, when the system was implemented. Two more were added before the ninth parliamentary elections and two others before the tenth parliamentary elections, sources said.
They said, registration of two parties was cancelled after
they failed to fulfill the necessary criteria. This puts the total number of political parties at 40 that can field candidates under a party banner in Bangladesh.
A total of 76 prospective parties have applied for registration ahead of the coming eleventh parliamentary elections. Nineteen of them were rejected in the initial selection. Eight others were rejected after they failed to submit the necessary documents to the EC.
The Commission then scrutinised the remaining 49 prospective parties throughout the month of May. Four deputy committees were formed to scrutinise the structure, documents and additional information regarding the prospective parties.
“Most of the parties did not have the correct documents,” an EC Deputy Secretary Abdul Halim Khan told the New Nation. “I could not recommend any of the parties that I examined for registration.”
“Our work is done,” Abdul Halim Khan, who is in-charge of the registration, said and added, “The relevant parties will be informed once we receive the approval of the commission.”
The EC had previously announced plans to finalise the list of registered parties six months before the coming general elections. To meet that goal, it has to announce the list this week. If any party is added to the list, the EC has to issue a gazette to settle all objections.
If there are any disagreements between the Chief Election Commissioner and the other Commissioners, the decision will be taken based on a majority vote.
The eleventh parliamentary elections must be held between October 30 of this year and January 28 of next year. Preparations for the polls will begin in the earnest following the three city corporation polls to be held on July 30.
