All about the Election Commission
Unless there is updated and correct voters' list one cannot expect free and fair polls in the country. The holding of credible and fair elections would mostly depend on flawless list of voters. One would hope that the EC would live up to the expectation in the discharge of the responsibility reposed on it.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court (SC) upheld the High Court directives and observations of January 4 this year over the EC's preparation of a voter list for the upcoming elections with modification of two High Court directives. In a situation like this it is being discussed in different circles that in the interest of keeping the office of the CEC above any controversy Justice MA Aziz should find his way out.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel. The EC's expenditure of about Taka 60 crore for preparing a fresh voter list is also being seen as a mere wastage for the unilateral decision of Justice Aziz ignoring directives of the High Court. The CEC is being openly blamed for the huge loss of money of the public exchequer.
The demand for resignation of CEC Justice MA Aziz and three other Election Commissioners is becoming stronger. The AL-led combine, as it appears, will try to reap some political benefits out of the situation. If they succeed that would pay them some political dividends. His resignation would on the other hand, mean a face loss for the government.
The demand for resignation has, however, been rejected by the CEC. The government on the other hand, considers that there was no reason for him to quit. The sooner the dispute over the issue is resolved, the better.
Neither BNP nor Awami League can really shrug off their responsibilities for the present state of the EC as both the parties have been in power alternatively since the fall of autocratic Ershad government in 1990.
The EC had to swallow allegations of being biased to the government and acting under its influence when the Awami League was in power. Now with BNP-led alliance in power the Awami League-led combine has been raising similar charges against the constitutional body. BNP was sharply critical of Awami League over appointment of Chief Election Commissioner MA Syed and Election Commissioner Shafiur Rahman.
Syed was a retired secretary and a member of erstwhile CSP family. The reason of his not being acceptable to BNP was that he was incidentally born in Gopalganj, home district of Awami League Chief Sheikh Hasina.
The party was unhappy with Shafiur Rahman, another CSP and also a retired bureaucrat, as he was reportedly one of the key men behind "Janatar Mancha," which played an active role in pulling down the then BNP government in 1996. The results of 2001 elections, however, made it clear that the allegations brought against them had no basis.
The demand for resignation of CEC and Election Commissioners is nothing new in our country. Such demands, however, are not always backed by logic or reasons.
Meanwhile, the much talked about voters' ID card project initiated in 1995 to check fake votes, remains suspended for some years for reasons best known to the authorities. A total of over 4.55 crore voters' ID cards have been distributed after spending about 76 per cent of the estimated Taka 3450 crore of the project. Of the total cards distributed, between 5-7 per cent were with flaws.
Nothing is heard about the project or findings of the then Bureau of Anti-Corruption (BAC) in unmasking all those behind the plunder of the project money. Unless the project work is revived and issuance of voters' ID card resumes, the amount already spent will be seen as mere drainage of public money. People have a right to know the fate of the project as the money spent was from the public exchequer.
Whether there will be dialogue between the ruling BNP-led alliance and the AL-led combine over the reforms of the Caretaker Government System (CTGS) and Electoral Reforms remains uncertain. But one would expect that some concrete steps are taken to strengthen the EC so that it could discharge the responsibility with greater dynamism and added efficiency.
The development partners of Bangladesh have also been raising the issue sometimes privately and at times openly. The new US ambassador to Bangladesh Ms Patricia A Butenis had a meeting with the CEC though the contents of the talks are not known to us.
What is needed is sincerity and seriousness from all quarters so that democratic institutions could become stronger paving the way for consolidation of the country's fledgling democracy.
One hopes that the country's major political parties would sit together and devise ways and means so that the EC could enjoy grater power keeping the country's constitutional bodies above all controversy. A stronger EC would ultimately pay dividends to them by reducing chances of any influence on the constitutional body by any party. In the process, Bangladesh's image would brighten as a country having cultures of democratic values.