Awami League should join the committee

Sheikh Hasina said that there was no need to constitute such a committee as their reform proposals were quite clear. Earlier in her speech in Parliament on February 28, the Leader of the Opposition wanted to know whether the Prime Minister would carry out the opposition-proposed reforms in the caretaker government (CTG), Election Commission (EC) and electoral system for the sake of free and fair elections.

While making her proposal in the House for forming the bipartisan committee and inviting the AL to nominate their members to the committee, the Prime Minister indicated that, if necessary, others might also come and find out fair modalities of free and fair elections.

The Prime Minister's proposal in the House for forming a committee has generally been welcomed by the people, the media, and the development partners of Bangladesh.

Commenting on the Prime Minister's proposal in House for forming the committee, The Daily Star in its editorial on March 2 wrote: "The proposal made by the PM for both the ruling and opposition parties to form a committee to work towards consensus on the opposition's reform agenda, coming as it did on the last day of the session, and somewhat vague in its particulars, is nevertheless a very positive step forward that is to be commended."

Another Dhaka daily (New Age) in its editorial on 2 March commented: "The Prime Minister's response to the proposals for caretaker and Election Commission reforms made by the Leader of the Opposition could surely have been a good deal more encouraging. Her suggestion that the proposals be discussed in a committee to be composed of treasury and opposition lawmakers cannot be described as failing to follow the patterns of constitutional politics. The Prime Minister has noted that the opposition has come in rather late in the day with its proposals for reform. That really ought to be hardly any problem, for two reasons. The first is that the head of the government has recognised, through the very statement, the seriousness of the proposals. The second is that the opposition, having presented the proposals in the House, will certainly want a clear agreement to be arrived at with the ruling coalition."

Commenting on the Prime Minister's proposal, yet another Dhaka daily (The Independent) in its editorial on March 2 wrote: "When the Leader of the Opposition offered to discuss the reforms in Parliament we, along with many other democratically disposed quarters, welcomed this changed strategy to bring back the issue on the floor of parliament, the right place for resolving political difference. Prime Minister and Leader of the House Begum Khaleda Zia in her closing speech expressed her readiness to discuss the Opposition's proposals for reform of caretaker government and the Election Commission and said that a committee could be formed with representatives of both opposition and ruling parties. The fact that the Prime Minister has responded to the Opposition's demand may look like a positive development but such a conclusion would be premature."

One Dhaka daily has quoted BDNews, which says that the US, the UK, and the European Union missions in Bangladesh have welcomed the proposal made by the Prime Minister in Parliament to form a committee to discuss the opposition's reform proposals.

For the sake of convenience of the readers, the reform proposals on the CTG, the EC and the electoral laws placed in the House on February 12 by the Leader of the Opposition Sheikh Hasina are summarised below:

CTG reforms

• Appointing acceptable and trusted persons as the chief adviser and advisers of the CTG by the president in consultation with all political parties.
• Acting by the president during the tenure of the CTG on all matters of state on the advice of the chief adviser.
• Running the defence ministry by the CTG.
• Confining jurisdiction of the CTG to conducting the day-to-day work and assisting the EC in holding the general elections.

EC reforms

• Appointing the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) and other Election Commissioners in consultation with political parties and determining the number of Election Commissioners through consultation.
• Empowering the EC to conduct elections neutrally and expanding the organisational framework of an independent secretariat down to upazila level.
• Enjoying full financial independence by the EC.
• Enjoying full authority to appoint the returning officers and presiding officers and deploy the law enforcement agencies to ensure security during elections.
• Placing the persons involved in conducting elections under the EC for a certain period before and after the polls and taking disciplinary action by the government against a defaulting official as recommended by the EC.
• Granting full independence to the EC to announce the election schedule and preparing election rules.
• Empowering the EC to postpone or cancel elections for violation of electoral laws and rules and giving judicial power to it to issue arrest orders and punish the violators.
• Preparing voter list maintaining complete transparency and issuing voter identity cards and introducing electronic voting.
• Preparing voter list of the permanent residents of the hill tracts as well as of the setters and ensuring their voting right.
• Counting of votes in presence of all and giving signed copy of the results to every candidate or his nominee and announcing election results only by the EC.
• Disposing any case of election results within two months by the Election Tribunals and appeal by the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court within three months

Reforms in electoral laws

• Reforming the electoral rules and regulations for declaring assets of the candidates and their dependents.
• Monitoring electoral expenses of the candidates in every constituency and submitting statements of election expenses by the candidates within one month of the polls.
• Making the owners of black money, loan defaulters and anti-liberation war persons and war criminals ineligible for contesting the elections.
• Giving the candidates the lists of presiding officers and polling officers and making the lists of polling centres public at least 15 days ahead of polls.

The BNP-led ruling alliance government has already acknowledged the need for reforming the EC in order to ensure holding of free and fair elections. The government should therefore have no objection to the proposed reform proposals on the EC. Acceptance of the proposals for reforming the EC by the BNP-dominated House will mean a victory for the nascent democracy of the country.

As for the reforms in electoral laws, the BNP may have some difficulty with the proposal of making the anti-liberation persons and war criminals ineligible for contesting elections in view of its alliance with the Jamaat-e-Islami. But BNP should not forget that its founder Ziaur Rahaman was a liberation war hero who read out the proclamation of independence over the radio. So, BNP cannot sacrifice its liberation war spirit by making alliance with any anti-liberation force.

From the speeches of the BNP leaders, it becomes amply clear that they are against the use of black money and muscle power in elections. So, the opposition proposal for freeing the elections from the influence of black money and muscle power is in consonance with the ruling coalition government's stated objectives.

BNP was so long unwilling to discuss any proposal for reforming the CTG and electoral laws. But the Prime Minister's proposal in the House on February 28 to form a committee to reach a consensus on the main opposition's reform agenda on the CTG, EC, and electoral laws has come as a ray of hope to the people.

In order to move forward with this seemingly favourable atmosphere for arriving at an understanding, the AL should agree to the Prime Minister's proposal and nominate members to the committee. The AL has nothing to lose by joining the committee. If the AL nominated members fail to arrive at an understanding with the ruling party members in the committee, they have the option to boycott the committee and explain to the people the reasons for boycotting the proceedings of the committee.

But as a democratic party the AL cannot be oblivious of the fact that flexibility is a sine qua non for successfully negotiating such vital national issues. Here I am tempted to quote again from The Daily Star's editorial on March 2, which said: "We would have liked to see more details, especially a time frame, as time is now very much of the essence, but there is no denying that the PM has made a sagacious offer and that the ball is now very much in the opposition's court. We would hope that the opposition could take the PM at her word and see her proposal as a window of opportunity for the fruitful resolution of the issues that divide the two sides."

M. Abdul Latif Mondal is a former Secretary to the government.