Resurrect the EC’s lost image

The new Election Commission (EC) has been holding a series of talks with various sections of society since its assumption of office on February 27. We would like to believe that such an exercise on the part of the new commission, led by CEC Kazi Habibul Awal, displays its intention to hold a credible election by eliciting opinions from a cross-section of people. We suggest that the EC also invite representatives from outside the so-called gentry and seek opinions of a few commoners, too.

We had earlier commented in these very columns that, our reservations about the selection process of the Election Commission notwithstanding, we would hope that the new commission would work sincerely to hold a national election that would be participatory, free and fair. And that its main task would be to restore the voters' faith in the electoral system, particularly the EC. The same message was conveyed to the EC when it met with a delegation of journalists on the same issue on April 6.

It is a sad reflection on democracy in Bangladesh that the main stakeholders and beneficiaries of a sound democratic system, the people, have lost interest in elections. And that is because, for a good part of the last decade, voters have been excluded from participating in voting, thus depriving them of their fundamental rights. This happened mostly because the previous election commissions failed miserably to play their due role in conducting free and fair elections. We would like to strongly emphasise that, although the system has lost credibility and that people's confidence in it has sapped tremendously, people's faith in democracy remains unwavering. But they feel helpless at the way the system operators and managers have failed them.

We suggest that the EC not forfeit its responsibility insofar as running the election is concerned, as the EC under Nurul Huda sought to do. It should not cede its authority to any supra body. Its main task is to provide a level playing field for all and ensure that the electoral laws are observed in letter and spirit without exception, and take action without fear or favour.

It should not forget that the electoral process is not restricted to the day of voting only. We are waiting to see how independently the EC conducts itself in the two years that we have before the next election. If it can stamp its authority and call the shots, only then will it be able to regain its lost and besmirched credibility. The CEC and his team would do well to remember that they are obligated to the people and people only, and no one else.