CEC and the future of Bangladeshi democracy

Adult franchise: Citizens queuing up to cast ballot.

She reportedly said: "Sensing defeat in the next general elections, the BNP and Jamat-led alliance has politicized the appointment of the CEC. The alliance government has totally ignored the opposition demand for a dialogue to get an acceptable person in the crucial post." She also reportedly said that the CEC has been appointed "to clear the way for rigging the ballot in the coming general elections."

The expectation of the people was also that at least this time, given the present boiling political situation in the country, the government would try to take the opposition on board on the appointment of the CEC. It was not expected to have a complete consensus

-- though that would have been best -- on the issue, but top level consultation would have taken out the political sting somewhat. At least the government could have a point to make to the people, but unfortunately this did not happen. There lies the faulty advice that the head of the government received from the concerned people of the ruling party.

It is true that the tradition has been for the government to appoint the CEC. The ruling party occasionally said that the last CEC was appointed by the past government without any consultation with the opposition. On this, the leader of opposition defended her position by saying that she "sent two letters to then the leader of opposition inviting her to a dialogue before appointment of immediate past CEC M A Sayed, but that there was no response."

Anyway, the same government party went back on MA Syed, their own selected person, and blamed him for many things. But luckily his departing kick in the mayoral election of Chittagong was praiseworthy; this should help set the tone for the next elections, though many important changes must be made in the election rules and its entire system of operation.

While in Delhi, as the chairman of Civic Watch Bangladesh, which is also now seriously examining the Election Commission issues, I had the opportunity to meet the senior Election Commissioner of India. My discussions with him gave me the impression that India too has a similar system. The government appoints the CEC and probably there is no consultation with the opposition in the matter. At least this is the picture one gets about CEC appointment, but nobody knows whether there is any informal consultation or even understanding between the government and the opposition on such crucial appointments. But India does have a system of formal consultations with the leader of the opposition on some other important appointments like the appointments of the Central Vigilance Commissioners (CVC), members of the Human Rights Commission, etc.

While discussing the issue of independence of various governmental bodies of public interest, it seems appropriate to mention that I, as the convener/chairman of the Movement Against Corruption (MAC), a civil society body recently formed in Dhaka, also had the opportunity to meet the chairman and the other members of the Central Vigilance Commission of India. I was very impressed to know that CVC is a fully independent body and the government never interferes in their work. It appeared that by law it is not accountable to any one. It works according to the transparent and laid down rules and procedures and publishes detailed reports periodically for public knowledge and scrutiny. It appeared from the discussions that it generally presents its annual reports to the President of India. This is certainly different from what the Anti-Corruption Commission of Bangladesh has been experiencing for months. Nothing happens without the approval of the government. This is not an independent ACC which the people of Bangladesh have been looking for such a long time.

On the appointments of the Election Commissioners another good thing that has developed in India over the years is that the seniormost Election Commissioner takes over as the CEC. So there is no misunderstanding on this crucial issue. Moreover, the advantage is that the CEC being the seniormost Election Commissioner, already has huge experience in dealing with the complicated matters like election. It is also important that the CEC, a key person in the system of democracy, then becomes a nationally tested person.

The tradition that India's former CEC TN Seshan, widely known as a very bold independent person, established is highly praiseworthy. The Election Commission is absolutely free of government intervention. It's really an independent body that runs the election of the country with so many states with over a billion people. Incredible indeed! India's tradition is certainly strong in terms of maintaining democratic system as apparently it has the tradition of regular consultations on different issues among the top leadership, particularly between the former Prime Ministers, of the country regardless of party belongings. This is what makes democracy but unfortunately in Bangladesh this tradition has not developed at all. The constant rivalry between the ruling party and the opposition and particularly at the topmost level has been seriously eroding the chances of firmly establishing democracy in the country, though people of the country gave enough blood to end autocratic rule and for the purpose of establishing democracy.

It is high time for our leadership to think seriously in the matter so that congenial political environment could be established to rescue the people from this intolerable political situation. It is, however, noteworthy that Bangladesh has been doing better than others including India on different social sector issues like education and particularly women education, women empowerment, maternity health care, water and sanitation, etc in the context of Millennium Development Goals (MDG) set by the UN. The credit goes to all political parties that were involved in the government over the last decade.

We, in the civil society, do feel that our leaders barring some arrogant and greedy ones, have the potential to do well for the country. The problems, however, are rampant corruption under political patronage, non-existence of mutual respect and political tolerance. For the sake of the people of the country they must get over them and work for the improving the people's lot.

To return to the issue of the appointment of the new CEC without any consultation with the opposition, one must admit that this has already made Bangladesh election ground very slippery to say the least. The opposition knows that this action of the government is irreversible unless the CEC, being a former Justice, feels "embarrassed" and leaves of his own free will which, however, is highly unlikely. So it would have been in order, indeed within the opposition's right, to criticize the system or the procedure adopted to such a crucial appointment. But the direct attack, apparently out of total frustration, on the new CEC that his appointment was done to rig the election was, to a certain extent, a reflection on the integrity of the person himself. This might have made him sad, but hopefully not angry.

However, the good and indeed remarkable thing is that the new CEC has reportedly responded well to these remarks by saying that he is the CEC for all or the CEC for none. This speaks of his soft approach to the situation, which is expected of him. This clearly shows that he is fully aware of the political turmoil that prevails in the country and he must remain above it. Let his clear thought and realistic understanding of country's politics lead him well to the great task ahead of him. The fate of the country's democracy and people's right must be uppermost in his mind and this should guide him to the right path. Let him establish a real independent Election Commission with an independent secretariat and full authority to run free and fair election in the country. The country needs it badly.

Muslehuddin Ahmad is a former Secretary and Ambassador.