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Fair election

13 April 2006, 18:00 PM
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
By M. Inamul HaqueDirector GeneralBangladesh Haor & WetlandsDevelopment Board
13 April 2006, 18:00 PM
Bangladesh had three parliamentary elections under caretaker government in 1991, 1996 & 2001. Those elections are now a model to the whole world, and many people in other countries are demanding such type of elections. But my question is, how much fair were those elections? Those elections could not and cannot stop the corrupt, land grabbers, loan defaulters and other criminals to take part and dominate in the whole process. As a matter of fact, the election activities have become the playground of those elements, because of their black money and muscle power. The good and capable persons who can run the country quite well stay away with their hands crossed for want of such might and money.

Thanks to The Daily Star for inviting us to join in the debate started by the CPD, Prothom Alo, DS. For a long time I have been advocating an Electoral College system in our country (BD Observer, 3.4.1996, BD Observer, 3.12.1996). The present system has totally failed to give us an election free of violence, booth capturing and false votes. I find the constituencies are too large for an honest person to spend for electioneering. The CPB had proposed an election on party basis. But their formula does not advocate people's representatives from the people but from the centre on the basis of total votes counted.

The debate started recently by the CPD, Prothom Alo and DS proposes to launch a movement all over the country in the name 'Joggya Prarthi Andolon'. A 'Joggya prarthi' may mean in English, 'capable' or/and 'fit' or/and 'qualified'. To elect a peoples' representative with those qualities sounds definitely very good. But my question is, how shall you judge the person having those qualities? You cannot do it by interviewing, or from CV, or from any sort of application format. Because, it is just impossible to find a person who did not get benefit from the culture of corruption we practiced since the birth of our nation. I want to solve this question by positive application of laws, not sparing anybody.

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But my other questions remain on the board. Where does a caretaker government stand when black money dominates the whole electioneering? Who shall guarantee the fairness of the government during its long tenure elected thereby? What will happen to the local government elections, when the caretaker government will be absent? Nowadays, a candidate for the parliamentary seat spends one to ten crore taka on electioneering. Once a candidate is declared elected, he and his promoters immediately set out to regain the money spent, with a target beyond limit. Some students and labour leaders also contest in the parliamentary elections. Where do they get money from? An honest man in this country shall never dare to contest in elections in the prevailing situation. Can we not make the system approachable to every man and hold fair election ?

I want to propose the Electoral College system again for a fair election in this country.

1. First, people shall elect 1,00,000 'Jana protinidhi' at the range 500 to 1000 voters per seat. Thus it shall be easy for the candidate to get known to the voters.

2. The Jana Protinidhi candidates shall seek votes on party tickets or contest independently. As soon as this election is complete it shall be clear which party is going to form government.

3. In the second step, Jana Protinidhis shall elect 10,000 Union/Ward Chairman, 1,000 Thana chairman and 200 Members of the Parliament (MP).