Interim govt has to start working on fresh EC formation: Election experts

With the fall of the Awami League regime through the mass uprising spearheaded by the student movement, a new opportunity has emerged to establish democracy in the country, election experts have observed.

Now the interim government has to start the work of forming a good election commission. At the same time, the provision for a caretaker or interim government should be included in the constitution, they said.

They made the observations at a roundtable on electoral system reformation organised by Shushashoner Jonno Nagorik at Azizur Rahman Conference Hall at the Daily Star building in the capital today. The event was moderated by the organiser’s Secretary, Badiul Alam Majumder. 

Munira Khan, president of the Fair Election Monitoring Alliance, said that to arrange an acceptable election, the main task of the interim government will be to form a new and better election commission.

“The Election Commission should have responsibility, accountability and transparency towards the people. For this, if necessary, an election commission should be formed based on public opinion.”

Local government expert Tofail Ahmed said at present, a total of 97 countries hold elections through the proportional representation system, which is a relatively good system despite some weaknesses. 

He also called for establishing a bicameral parliamentary system to establish a framework of accountability.

He said fair elections are not possible without a non-partisan government and impartial administration.

Jasmine Tuli, a former Election Commission officer, said in the last 53 years in Bangladesh, there have been 12 national elections, of which the four elections held under the caretaker government have only been considered relatively transparent and acceptable.

Former chief election commissioner and justice Abdur Rauf said the political parties should be forced to follow democratic practices in party management. 

To prevent nomination business in elections, he also proposed to abolish the nomination process by the political parties, which involves money. “There will be no fair elections as long as nominations are traded in the elections.” 

Aminul Islam, a member of the liaison committee formed by the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement, opined against holding any election under the existing electoral system.

Presenting the main article, Dilip Kumar Sarker, central coordinator of Shujan, pointed out that the creation of a proper legal framework, which includes the regulations from the constitution, the People’s Representation Order and other relevant regulations is mandatory in the electoral system reformation.