A manual of 19 fool-proof steps for sure success in election
1. Increase retirement age for the chief justice to ensure that the chief of the care-taker government (CTG) will be a party loyalist.
2. If step 1 fails because of outcry from the public, ask the party-selected president of the country to take over as chief of CTG, sidestepping other constitutional options.
3. Appoint party loyalists as the chief election commissioner, commissioners and secretary to the Election Commission.
4. If public protest becomes too noisy, the chief election commissioner and one or two commissioners may go on leave, still leaving the Commission in the hands of loyalists.
5. Encourage the Election Commission to prepare a favourable voter list -- leaving out suspected opposition supporters and including extra fake names to allow ballot box stuffing.
6. Encourage the Election Commission to defy court orders and public protest about voter list preparation. Deny any errors initially and then slow down and delay correction steps, thus leaving no time for full correction.
7. Discourage the Election Commission from taking measures to introduce voter ID with photograph.
8. Ensure that the Election Commission rejects offer of transparent ballot boxes, if such an offer is made (free-of-cost) by the European Commission or any other party.
9. Ensure recruitment of returning officers and polling officers from party's student front cadres.
10. Follow a systematic plan for five years prior to election to ensure that all recruitment for police, Ansar, Village Defence Force, and primary education officers and teachers who may be involved in election duties is done strictly on the basis of party loyalty.
11. Encourage loyalist law enforcement and election officials (see step 10) to dissuade suspected opposition sympathizers, especially members of the minority communities, from registering as voters, coming to polling centres, or voting.
12. If members of the CTG advisory council show a tendency of being neutral, ask the president-cum-chief adviser not to consult them on vital decisions, ignore their advice even if they are consulted, or take unilateral decisions.
13. If actions of the president/chief adviser are challenged in court, ensure that the proceedings are suspended, preferably before the hearing starts.
14. In case, the advisers find it too demeaning to continue and resign, advise the president/chief adviser to replace them forthwith, and subject the new advisers to the same treatment as in step 12.
15. Plan carefully and long in advance to ensure that senior and mid-level positions in the civil service -- especially those in home affairs, education, law, establishment division; and posts of DC, UNO, SP, Thana OC, and district and upazila primary education officer -- are staffed with loyalists by careful recruitment, promotion and deployment, and by denying promotion, and/or placing as OSD all whose loyalty may not be above any doubt.
16. To placate public outcry regarding partisan civil service placement, CTG can move personnel around, which will be of little consequence since most positions will have been filled with loyalists in the previous five years.
17. Invoke the Constitution frequently and loudly as the argument against measures that might be proposed for making the election fair and free, especially in respect of Election Commission reconstitution, election schedule, voter registration, extending the CTG tenure beyond 90 days, and any other measure that may unravel the meticulous election "sure-success" plan.
18. Discourage the Election Commission from applying and enforcing rules about disclosure of income and assets of candidates, reporting election contributions and expenses, and observing campaign rules.
19. Encourage the president/CTG chief to call the military for law and order duties which will serve two purposes -- create psychological pressure and anxiety in the citizenry, and dissuade them from protesting election rigging.
2. If step 1 fails because of outcry from the public, ask the party-selected president of the country to take over as chief of CTG, sidestepping other constitutional options.
3. Appoint party loyalists as the chief election commissioner, commissioners and secretary to the Election Commission.
4. If public protest becomes too noisy, the chief election commissioner and one or two commissioners may go on leave, still leaving the Commission in the hands of loyalists.
5. Encourage the Election Commission to prepare a favourable voter list -- leaving out suspected opposition supporters and including extra fake names to allow ballot box stuffing.
6. Encourage the Election Commission to defy court orders and public protest about voter list preparation. Deny any errors initially and then slow down and delay correction steps, thus leaving no time for full correction.
7. Discourage the Election Commission from taking measures to introduce voter ID with photograph.
8. Ensure that the Election Commission rejects offer of transparent ballot boxes, if such an offer is made (free-of-cost) by the European Commission or any other party.
9. Ensure recruitment of returning officers and polling officers from party's student front cadres.
10. Follow a systematic plan for five years prior to election to ensure that all recruitment for police, Ansar, Village Defence Force, and primary education officers and teachers who may be involved in election duties is done strictly on the basis of party loyalty.
11. Encourage loyalist law enforcement and election officials (see step 10) to dissuade suspected opposition sympathizers, especially members of the minority communities, from registering as voters, coming to polling centres, or voting.
12. If members of the CTG advisory council show a tendency of being neutral, ask the president-cum-chief adviser not to consult them on vital decisions, ignore their advice even if they are consulted, or take unilateral decisions.
13. If actions of the president/chief adviser are challenged in court, ensure that the proceedings are suspended, preferably before the hearing starts.
14. In case, the advisers find it too demeaning to continue and resign, advise the president/chief adviser to replace them forthwith, and subject the new advisers to the same treatment as in step 12.
15. Plan carefully and long in advance to ensure that senior and mid-level positions in the civil service -- especially those in home affairs, education, law, establishment division; and posts of DC, UNO, SP, Thana OC, and district and upazila primary education officer -- are staffed with loyalists by careful recruitment, promotion and deployment, and by denying promotion, and/or placing as OSD all whose loyalty may not be above any doubt.
16. To placate public outcry regarding partisan civil service placement, CTG can move personnel around, which will be of little consequence since most positions will have been filled with loyalists in the previous five years.
17. Invoke the Constitution frequently and loudly as the argument against measures that might be proposed for making the election fair and free, especially in respect of Election Commission reconstitution, election schedule, voter registration, extending the CTG tenure beyond 90 days, and any other measure that may unravel the meticulous election "sure-success" plan.
18. Discourage the Election Commission from applying and enforcing rules about disclosure of income and assets of candidates, reporting election contributions and expenses, and observing campaign rules.
19. Encourage the president/CTG chief to call the military for law and order duties which will serve two purposes -- create psychological pressure and anxiety in the citizenry, and dissuade them from protesting election rigging.
If all the steps designed and systematically implemented over a period of five years fail, it must be seen as an "Act of God" against which there is no recourse; or it is time to throw in the towel and admit that the days of election engineering are over and that citizens are determined to win their democratic right to vote freely and fairly.
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