Staff Reporter :
Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) has observed the necessity of the legal reforms in a bid to ensure the level playing field for all political parties if the government takes the opportunity to hold parliamentary election by keeping its ministers and MPs in the offices.
TIB has also urged to reconsider the ‘controversial decision’ of using Electronic Voting Machines (EVM) in the national election when most of the political parties have opposed it.
“Necessary legal reforms should be done in order to hold a free, fair and inclusive election. The biggest area of concern is to create a
level playing field for all the political parties,” TIB Executive Director Dr Iftekharuzzaman said in a virtual meeting on Thursday.
While addressing the event, organised on the occasion of International Democracy Day, he said that the role of the EC would be crucial in the next national election.
TIB has urged the EC to gain trust of all political parties, to ensure legal reforms to remove conflict of interest, impartial role of administration and law enforcing agencies during election, participation of election observers both home and abroad including the journalists and free flow of information.
Emphasising the pivotal role of the Election Commission to ensure participatory and inclusive elections, Iftekharuzzaman said, “The Election Commission should analyse the priority lists among the election affairs to ensure an inclusive or participatory election.”
“The Election Commission should take initiatives to amend necessary laws to create a level playing field for all. Such a field is naturally hampered when elections are held by keeping the minister and Mps in the offices when the government needs to ensure an impartial and conflict of interest free role,” he noted.
TIB Chief does not think that only a caretaker government can ensure an impartial role during elections.
He said, “A caretaker government is not the only means for ensuring the impartial role of the election time government.”
“We think, according to the global democratic practices, the way an election is held under the incumbent government, legal reforms are imperative. At the same time, an impartial role of the law enforcing agencies and the administrations has to be ensured,” he observed.
He also said that a controversial role of the law enforcers and the administrations in the field level was seen in the last two elections and such a role was responsible for the damage of the level playing field.
“The Election Commission should have all powers of the transfer and appointment in such organisations during election,” he added.
The election commission will have to be firm in their determination to ensure the participation of the local and foreign observers, free access of the stakeholders to mass media and social media during election as well as free flow of election information, he added.
TIB hopes that the opposition will be interested in the election instead of boycotting it and will not take any hard steps like the election in 2013.
The ruling party and the opposition should come to a balanced position considering the interest of the country and the people, it said.
