Gulam Rabbani :
No specific law has been formed yet for appointments in the key posts of Election Commission, namely the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) and other commissioners whereas the Constitution prescribed a specific law for the posts 49 years ago.
All the successive governments since the independence of the country did not draft any law for the formation of a transparent election commission. As a result, the appointment of CEC and other commissioners of the EC raise questions again and again.
A new election commission has to be formed by February, 2022 as the tenure of the incumbent chief election commissioner and four other commissioners’ ends in that month. In this situation, the political corners are continuously demanding to make a policy or to enact a law before appointing the new election commissioners.
But Law Minister Anisul Huq recently repeatedly said the next Election Commission would be formed through a search committee. The Minister said, “I am not saying that we will not enact the law that is mentioned in the Constitution to form the EC. But considering the pandemic situation and the EC’s term expiring in next February, it is not possible to form an Election Commission by enacting law.”
“In a recent press conference, the Prime Minister made it clear that a new EC would be formed through a search committee. Previously, when the search committee was formed, the President took the opinions of all political parties,” added the Minister.
But in the absence of a law, the appointments of election commissioners with no specific criteria defined regarding their qualifications or what will lead to the disqualification often triggered widespread controversies.
The current Election Commission has drawn flak from many opposition parties, election watchdogs, and civil society members over holding of the 2018 national election. It has also come under fire from different quarters for low voter turnout in local body elections, by-polls and many candidates getting elected unopposed.
Election experts blamed the EC for the failure to ensure free and impartial elections, which has inspired people and many political parties to lose interest in polls.
The use of EVM (electronic voting machine) in elections by the EC has also come under scrutiny with some claiming that the machine was introduced to enable polls irregularities.
The current commissioners assumed office on February 15, 2017. As there is no specific law, the president had formed a search committee earlier that year for appointing the CEC and other commissioners.
Since 1972, most of the governments constituted the EC by preferring their choice.
Article 118 (1) of the Constitution says, “There shall be an Election Commission for Bangladesh consisting of the Chief Election Commissioner and not more than four Election Commissioners and the appointment of the Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners (if any) shall, subject to the provisions of any law made in that behalf, be made by the President.”
Former Law Minister Barrister Shafique Ahmed said, “The excuse given by the Law Minister in enacting laws on formation of the election commission is not correct. I think they have enough time to enact a law before formation of the new EC on next February.”
“During my tenure a law was drafted regarding the Election Commission. But when my term expired, it did not go further. In order to make the Constitution effective, it has to be done as stated in it,” said the former Minister.
Shujan Secretary Dr Badiul Alam Majumdar said, “The government is giving excuse that they don’t have enough time to enact a law. They are in power for so many years, what they have done by this time? We have proposed a draft law earlier. Apart from this, another draft had been engineered earlier. They (government) can enact a law if they wish.”
He said, “If a law is formulated, the government cannot appoint the chief election commissioner and other election commissioners of its own choice because it is the law which will determine the qualification of the candidates for the posts. But they don’t want to respect the law.”
Meanwhile, 53 eminent citizens of the country recently urged the government to take urgent steps in this regard to enable the Election Commission to take the necessary lawful steps for conducting elections independently and without any external influence.
