Staff Reporter :
TIB Executive Director Iftekharuzzaman on Monday said that the upcoming parliamentary elections could be held in a fair manner under the partisan government only if all political parties, Election Commission and other stakeholders play a positive role.
“There is mistrust among people over holding the national election under the partisan government. But to ensure a fair and acceptable election, political parties also have the most important role to play,” he said this at a press briefing.
The briefing was organized on the occasion of the publication of a research report titled “Good Governance and Integrity in Election Manifestos of Political Parties at the MIDAS Centre in the capital.
Dr Iftekharuzzaman said, “The [national] election under a partisan government is a common practice in many democratic countries of the world. It can’t be said all elections held under the current government was unfair.”
During the programme, the TIB revealed its analytical study on good governance and the integrity of election manifesto of the political parties. Dr Iftekharuzzaman said there is a huge gap between the promises made in the manifesto of all political parties and their implementation, which is not acceptable at all.
A lack of seriousness in implementing promises made in manifestos was found among the political parties after they got elected, he said, urging the parties to include a report on how many promises they have implemented from their earlier manifesto in their next manifesto following a self-assessment.
The political parties must clearly state that what role they will play after winning the election and how they will contribute if they do not win the election, said Dr Iftekharuzzaman. He also called for keeping government agencies such as Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) out of party and political influences.
Country’s legal structure to ensure good governance and integrity has become stronger over the last 10 years, but the main challenge is the implementation of those, said the TIB Executive Director.
To avoid power concentration, he said, no party leader should become the government head.
At the programme, Shahzada M Akram, Senior Programme Manager of TIB Research and Policy, presented the analytical study where he showed that almost all the political parties in their manifesto talked about establishing democracy and good governance and fight against corruption.
