Election Commission

A new EC is due in the next two months and a national election in the next two years. Regrettably, the current EC has not acquitted itself well to the satisfaction of all the stake holders. Either it was unable to do so or was unwilling to stamp its authority in the conduct of elections in the last five years. It was perhaps the only statuary body that sought to curtail its own powers when in 2013 it recommended to the government to do away with its powers to cancel the candidature of any candidate for violating the electoral laws. And the rationale it offered was quite unintelligible.

Regrettably, in so far as picking of the EC, no government had applied itself to fulfilling the provisions of Article 118 of the Constitution that requires appropriate legislation for laying out the modalities for appointing the EC and the CEC.

While a new legislation may not be possible before February, 2017, it is imperative that such an EC that would be able to regain the confidence of the voters and the political parties is picked. And in that regard we repeat what we had suggested not long ago, that in picking the new EC members it may be a good idea to seek opinions of all the stake holders in order to dispel any misgivings regarding the new election commission.

An EC, which is independent and can perform without let or hindrance from any quarters, and a free, fair and transparent election are the most important factors that can help lay the foundation of a functional democracy and, consequently good governance, in the country.