The request for legal action against chief election commissioner KM Nurul Huda and four other commissioners for alleged misconduct and financial irregularities by 42 eminent citizens of the country has created quite a stir in the country’s political arena.
The Election Commission is a constitutional institution. Section 5 of Article 118 of the constitution states, "The Election Commissioner shall not be removed for any reason other than the manner and reason for which the judges of the Supreme Court may be removed." The 42 prominent citizens have sought that legal remedy. They did not say to take the law into own hands or to take to the streets.
It would not be an exaggeration to say that the reaction of the ruling party to this innocent appeal of prominent citizens is an attempt to suppress dissent. Several central leaders of the ruling party, who are also members of the cabinet, are trying to taint the citizens' initiative calling them politically motivated. A minister said, "The draft of this letter has been prepared in the BNP office."
But they should know that many of these prominent citizens have said the same thing about democracy, elections, good governance and so on even when the BNP was in power. The current ruling party was in the opposition and unhesitatingly praised the role of these citizens at the time.
The real question is whether the allegations made by the citizens against the Election Commission officials are correct. If these allegations are not true, the accused will be easily acquitted. If the allegations are true there is no reason to suppress or ignore dissent. Some people can be misled for a while but not all people can be fooled forever.
According to the constitution, the main responsibility of the election commission is to protect the people's right to vote and to ensure free and fair elections. But KM Nurul Huda commission failed to do so since it took charge. In a democratic system, it is essential that the country be ruled by the people's representatives (the caretaker government system has been abolished through this argument).
But the election of that people's representative does not stand for a mock election. It must be ensured that every citizen can vote without fear and without hindrance. The current election commission has completely failed to protect the people's right to vote- be it in the national election of 2018 or in the election of local government bodies before and after the national polls.
Therefore, the allegations of serious misconduct brought against the election commission by 42 prominent citizens need to be properly and credibly investigated. Government leaders should not try to divert the issue unnecessarily. There is no alternative if we want to protect the electoral system.