THE New Nation and other dailies on Monday reported that facing growing violation of election codes of conduct by ruling party leaders ahead of the Municipal Election scheduled for December 30, a highly disappointed Election Commission (EC) has appealed to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to ask Ministers and MPs to refrain from taking part in campaign for ruling party backed candidates. One of the Election Commissioners made the appeal on Sunday while talking to newsmen to say that the Ministers and MPs are ignoring the ban on their participation in campaigns at many places prompting the opposition to question as to why the EC is failing to stop it. As it appears that the EC may have made the appeal to the PM to make its task easier to reign in the government leaders but many raise the question as to why it is not using its power as an independent constitutional body to punish the violators instead of appealing to the head of the government. When we have a government based on destroying institutions of good governance and established also on a too much persons based government chaos must follow. That is how the government functions and that is the reason why the Commission is a toothless body. In our belief the Election Commission must do whatever is necessary to do and if this means the government will not allow free and fair Municipal elections so be it. The corrupt and irresponsible forces the government have unleashed to continue in power have now become monsters for the government. We shall see indiscipline and chaos in the government spilling over everywhere in the country. Our fear is that the present leadership will not be able to contain the dangerous chaos being let lose by the government itself. The Election Commission has done one thing good, it has appealed to the Prime Minister to restrain her party men so that there is a chance for free and fair Municipal elections. But we feel sadly that even the Prime Minister may not be able to contain the unruliness of her own government. The Municipal elections may be as farce as all past elections.
