--Editor

Independence of Election Commission

• The independence of EC is enshrined in the Constitution of the People's Republic of Bangladesh. Three endogenous factors, however, could interfere with its image and functioning as an independent body. First is the process of selection and appointment of the CEC and the ECs. Whereas appointments of the CEC and the Election Commissioners made by the two caretaker governments in 1996 and 2007 had general acceptability, such appointments made unilaterally by the immediate past government created political impasse.
• Article 118(1) of the Constitution empowers the President to appoint the CEC and the ECs subject to the provision of any law made in that behalf. The President may possibly invoke this power to issue a Presidential Order to the effect:
• That the CEC and the ECs shall be appointed from amongst persons of proven administrative ability, unquestioned integrity and neutrality:
• That the President shall consult the leader of the Opposition in the Parliament and other important political parties and give due consideration to their opinion before he makes the appointment.
• Secondly, with respect to the approval of the organogram and the budget of the EC, it should enjoy similar powers as are enjoyed by the Parliament Secretariat.
• The CEC shall preside over a meeting of the Secretaries Committee consisting of the Cabinet Secy., Principal Secy. to the PM, Finance Secy. and Secy. Election Commission where the Commission's budget and the organogram as developed by the Secretariat of the Commission and circulated earlier shall be discussed and finally approved.
• Thirdly, the Election Commission Secretariat shall be detached from the Office of the Prime Minister (PMO) and under the powers conferred by Article 55(6) of the Constitution, the President shall amend the Rules of Business 1996 by deleting “Election Commission Secretariat” from Schedule IV of the Rules of Business.

Appointment of EC staff

• Except for those on deputation, the EC should be the authority for appointment and termination of the staff members recruited directly on the recommendation of the PSC. In respect of the staff on deputation, the EC's order for replacement of such staff members to their parent department shall be final.
• EC should be allowed to write the ACRs of those deputed for election duty for the period they are attached to the EC.

Number of EC members

• The EC should have three members, including the Chairman. The fourth member is one too many.

Registration of politicalparties with the EC

• Suitable amendments should be introduced in Article 90A (4) of the RPO making registration mandatory and debarring registration of political parties propagating hatred between Muslims and people of other faiths, between Shias and Sunnis, between Ahmadiyyas and non-Ahmadiyyas, between scheduled caste and non scheduled caste, etc.
• Registered political parties covertly or overtly encouraging political and religious violence and displaying religious intolerance should be deregistered and right to contest election forfeited.
• The registration should be cancelled if the party fails to receive 3% of the votes cast in the general election.

Independent candidates

• The proposal for collection of signatures of 1% of the registered voters as a precondition for eligibility will only encourage fraudulent practices and, therefore, should be dispensed with.
• There could be other qualification-test like, proof of solvency, etc.

5 Disqualifying retired government servants and NGO officials from seeking election

• The proposal that 3 years must elapse before a retired official can contest election could violate fundamental rights. However, such candidates should be disqualified from contesting as nominees of registered political parties but could contest as independent candidates.
• This should discourage such officials from showing favour to a political party during their service career. Secondly, contesting independently would be a positive discouragement.

Number of constituencies from which a candidate may contest

• Through amendment of Article 71(2) of the Constitution, the number should be reduced to two. In the interim, through amendment of the RPO the number should be limited to three.

Ceiling of election expenditure by a candidate

• A ceiling of Tk. 10 lakhs per candidate may be prescribed. However, the candidate shall submit breakdown of estimates of expenditure within the ceiling under the following sub-heads:
• Printing of publicity materials
• Transport and conveyance
• Hiring of premises or places for holding election meetings,
• Hiring of Microphones
• Hiring of campaign workers
• Hiring of election agents/polling agents
• Publicity through electronics media- Radio and Television
• Miscellaneous expenditure
• The EC may appoint Election Expenses Observer (EEO) to monitor the election expenses of the contesting candidates. One or two observers per district should be considered.
• The provision of Rule 27AA of the Election Rules regarding maintenance and submission of the Election Expenditure Return (EER) shall be strictly enforced. The provision of six months time limit for prosecution as in Article 90(a) of RPO should be deleted.
• A firm of chartered accountants may be appointed for suitable modifications of the existing form used for submission of Return of Election Expenses. The existing form is cumbersome and outdated and needs to be modernized.
• Wide discrepancy between the records maintained by the EEO and the EER submitted by the successful candidates, if not explained to the satisfaction of the EC, may call for cancellation of the election result or vacation of the membership of the Parliament.

Campaigning for election at the national level: role of electronic media

• The EC should issue detailed guidelines as required under Article 90B (c) of the RPO for use of electronic media for campaigning at the national level by the registered political parties. Simultaneously, guidelines for use of print media should also be developed.
• The guidelines for national level campaigning, inter alia, should include the following:
• Separate campaign budget should be established for each contesting party. The national level budget should be in addition to the ceiling of expenditure fixed for each candidate.
• The EC should encourage extensive use of the electronics and print media by the political parties and should discourage frequent field visits by the senior office bearers of the party.
• Each political party may be allowed by the EC to buy prime time, between 7:30 pm and 9:00 pm to project the party manifesto. EC should also ensure that each political party, depending on the number of candidates it has fielded, has proportionate access to the prime time.
• BTV and Radio Bangladesh, the two state controlled enterprises, should be amenable to policy directives of the EC but it may not be so for the other 12 private satellite TV channels most of whom were sponsored on party lines. The EC should devise a code of conduct for the private TV channels and strictly monitor their programmers and especially their news coverage to ensure level playing fields for all registered political parties.

Campaigning at field level by individual candidates

• The proposals put forward by the EC for stricter regulations on local level election campaigns, especially for holding rallies and processions, since such activities have the potential for creating street violence and cause obstruction to the orderly flow of traffic, are welcome.
• The code of conduct for such rallies and processions should prohibit carrying of any kind of firearms, sticks and rods, knives or any sharp materials, brickbats, inflammatory and provocative slogans, burning of the effigy of the leaders of the other contesting parties, etc.
• Carrying of photographs of the candidates or the party leaders, past or present, should not be banned or discouraged.
• Loud playing of microphones should be prohibited.
• Selected open spaces to be earmarked in each constituency for holding election meetings with the permission of the district authorities.
• Wall-postering may be allowed with the permission of the owners of the properties in question and the district authorities.
• Candidates may be allowed to use the print and electronics media within the time nationally allotted to his or her party by the EC.

Disqualifications for participation in election

• Additional provision for disqualification in addition to Proviso to Article 12(1) of the RPO:
• Does not pay income tax, does not have Tax Identification Number (TIN) and has not submitted Tax Return for the immediate preceding assessment year.
• Has converted black money into white under the special dispensation of 71/2% tax.
• Has acquired motor vehicles without disclosing the source of funds under a special dispensation allowed under section 19BBB of the IT Ordinance.
• There existed an unexplained discrepancy between the Assets & Liabilities statement submitted to the Income Tax Dept along with the Tax Return and the statement to the EC under Article 44AA of the RPO.
• Has been charged with tax fraud until fully exonerated from the charge.
• Convicted of or compounded a criminal offence or offence involving moral turpitude until the conviction is overturned by the higher court or until 5 years have elapsed from the date of his release or from the date the offence was compounded.
• Has misused the privilege of duty-free import of cars in a manner unbecoming of a law maker.
• Have outstanding telephone and other utility bills in the MP Hostel, in the candidate's office and residence.
• Has been adjudged a loan defaulter by Bangladesh Bank 1 year prior to the submission of the nomination paper.
• Has been given waiver of any outstanding principal amount by a bank and other financial institutions as a part of settlement of classified loans until 5 years have elapsed from the date of such settlement.
• Is not enrolled as a voter in any constituency.
• Is not nominated by a registered political party or is not an independent candidate.
• A director holding 10% or more shares in a loan defaulting company would be considered a loan defaulter for this purpose.
• Definition of a bank should also include a Financial Institution licensed under the Financial Institutions Act 1993.

Voter listing and Introduction of identity cards with photographs

• The proposal for voter listing from camps, as against the traditional way of door-to-door visits, has already met with criticism from all the political parties. It is also apprehended that a large number of eligible and prospective voters may not like to take the trouble to go to a camp and stand in a queue for enrolment as voters. Therefore, the EC may end up with an incomplete voter list.
• With respect to the time frame necessary for a fresh voter list with photographs, the then Election Commission implemented a voter ID card project between 1998 and 2000. In these 2 years, about 70%, i.e. 4.15 crore, out of a total number of 5.99 crore, voters' ID could be prepared. The estimated cost of the project was Tk. 180 crore against which the actual expenditure incurred was Tk. 139.37 crore. The photos of voters taken was 77% of roughly 6 crore voters. The cost per card was Tk. 13.70. It was a stupendous operation in which considerable time, money and energy were spent. The Election Commission should take lessons from past experience before embarking on such a massive operation with a limited time frame.
• It should not be the responsibility of the Election Commission to prepare National Identity Cards. The responsibility should fairly and squarely devolve on the Ministry of Home Affairs.
• While preparing the voter list, EC should make exceptions for those voters objecting to be photographed on religious or other grounds.

  Number of polling agents for each polling station
  

  • The existing provision of one agent per booth per candidate may be retained.

  Disposal of election petition
  

  • The inordinate delay in the disposal of election petitions frustrates the whole purpose of such petitions. To expedite disposal, a number of High Court Benches may be established for disposal of a petition within six months and disposal of appeal by the Appellate Division within a maximum period of six months. Without increasing the number of benches, the delay in the disposal of election petitions cannot be improved.

  EC power to cancel election results
  The EC should be empowered to enquire, withhold and cancel results of election in any constituency, prior to gazette notification, on grounds of serious irregularity and non-compliance of the provisions of RPO and the Election Rules. Serious irregularity should include, among others, non-submission of statements required under Article 44AA, non-submission of election expenses as required under Article 44C etc and serious breach of code of conduct.

  Forfeiture of candidate's deposit
  The existing provision of forfeiture in case of failure to get 1/8th of the votes cast need not be changed.

  Announcement of election results on election
  A transparent, accountable and workable system for unofficial announcement of election results should be in place.

  Code of conduct
  The EC should be empowered to enforce the code of conduct, including powers to impose penalties and debarring candidates from contesting election.

  Proposals regarding polling day activities
  

  • The presiding officers of each polling station should be provided with dedicated (mobile) phone facilities to communicate with the Returning Officer as and when necessary.
  • The Returning Officer will inform before the Election Day each candidate/ his polling agent about the number of polling booths and ballot boxes for each polling station of his constituency. The Presiding Officer/ Assistant P.O. will, in turn, inform the same to the polling agents of each candidate before the voting starts.
  • The number of unused ballot boxes (no votes cast) per polling station, if any, would be recorded after the end of counting of votes by the Presiding Officer of the polling station and countersigned by the polling agents of all the candidates. The information should be sent immediately to the Returning Officer who, in turn, would send a consolidated list of the same for the Constituency to the Election Commission.

  Strengthening Electoral Training Institute
  There is an imperative need for the construction of a proper Election Commission building at a suitable location along with an adequately equipped Electoral Training Institute. Training of election-related functionaries, election agents, observers and members of the media is of utmost importance for a free and fair election. This also calls for establishment of regional institutes as resource and training centres.

  Md. Matiul Islam is former secretary, finance; Manzur Murshed is former ambassador and secretary; Jalaluddin Ahmed is former secretary and former advisor, ILO & UNFPA; Manzurul Karim is former secretary, home; Quazi Habibul Haque is former director, World Food Programme; Abu Hena is former chief election commissioner; Faizur Razzaque is former secretary, Election Commission; M.M. Reza is former secretary, Election Commission.