A free and fair election is not possible under the present chief election commissioner (CEC), they said stressing that reforms in the Election Commission (EC) should be carried out immediately so that the next polls are acceptable to all.

Nagorik Committee 2006 organised the discussion on 'Vision 2021 for Bangladesh: Goal 1: To Become a Participatory Democracy' at Cirdap auditorium in Dhaka.

Professor Rehman Sobhan, convener of the committee and also chairman of Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), chaired the meeting.

Awami League (AL) lawmaker Abdur Razzak said it is true that there are some weaknesses in practising democracy within the parties and there are scopes to further strengthen it.

"But as far as my party is concerned, it's not entirely true that there is no intra-party democracy at all, " he said citing examples of elections at thana and district levels to choose party leadership.

It is not desirable that a person who has money now wants to be a lawmaker no matter if he is qualified for it or not, he observed.

A lawmaker has very little to contribute under the present parliamentary system and parliament will not be effective without strengthening the local governments, added the opposition lawmaker.

Referring to CEC MA Aziz's cancelling the meeting with visiting European Union (EU) team in January, he said it is very unfortunate that despite being a sitting judge, the present CEC had feigned sick to avert meeting the visitors.

Zahiruddin Swapan, a ruling party lawmaker, underscored the need for institutionalising the electoral process with a view to making elections free from all sorts of influence.

He suggested introducing identity cards for the citizens that, he said, will help to bring greater accountability in the election systems.

Saying that information technology has brought about a significant change in everyday life in the last 15 years, he urged the Nagorik Committee to include it in the Vision 2021.

Hasanul Huq Inu, president of Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal, welcomed the initiative of the Nagorik Committee and said some of the reforms proposed by the 14-party opposition alliance are already there in the Vision 2021 for Bangladesh.

For now, holding an acceptable election is absolutely imperative for democracy to sustain, he said calling for the proposed reforms in the electoral systems to be implemented urgently.

He urged the Nagorik Committee to draw up a list of black money holders who should not be allowed to participate in the polls.

"Elected dictators are now ruling the country and they are desperate to cling on to power," Inu added.

Earlier, in a presentation on Vision 2021 for Bangladesh: Goal One, Debapriya Bhattacharya, executive director of CPD, said currently, the country has a short-term goal in poverty reduction strategy papers (PRSP) but there is no long-term planning.

He noted that Vision 2021 is different from the PRSPs on three counts--it is a long-term one, its ownership is much widened because of recommendations [included in it] from the grassroots level, and most importantly, it highlights the accountability of the political parties.

Justice Abdur Rouf said he tried to introduce ID cards for the citizens when he was the CEC but a section of officials in the administration worked against the plan.

It will be very difficult to hold a free and fair election without empowering the people, he noted.

Mahbubur Rahman, president of International Chamber of Commerce in Bangladesh, said registration of the political parties is a must to end the culture of one-man party in the country. He also underscored the need for introduction of the citizens' ID cards.

Shamsul Bari, chairman of Research Initiative Bangladesh, stressed the importance of building a knowledge society, adding that the planning should be based on research so that the initiatives can be more sustainable.

Shaheen Anam, executive director of Manusher Jonno, said the issues relating to inequality and inequity should be addressed, and the women will not need any affirmative action if discriminatory practices are removed from the society.

Badiul Alam Majumdar of the Hunger Project-Bangladesh said political parties are supposed to be the driving force in a democratic society but in Bangladesh they are out to 'form syndicates just to be in power'.

Samson H Chowdhury, chairman of Transparency International Bangladesh, observed that a whole lot of discriminations exist between the ordinary people and those who are in power.

Nagorik Committee, formed early this year at a national dialogue, has identified eight goals for Vision 2021 for Bangladesh. It will organise separate expert group consultation sessions for each goal throughout this month. The goals are: i) to become a participatory democracy, ii) to have an efficient, publicly accountable and transparent government, iii) to become a poverty-mitigated middle-income country, iv) to have a skilled and a creative workforce, v) to become a health-endowed nation, vi) to be globally integrated and to be a regional hub, vii) to be environmentally sustainable and viii) to be a more equitable society.