EC makes no move to make next polls free, fair

Apart from carrying out day-to-day work, the election commission has taken no visible initiatives over the past one year to make the next crucial general elections free and fair.

According to the existing constitutional provision, the 11th parliamentary elections shall be held by the third week of January 2019, with the Sheikh Hasina-led government remaining in power.

Ruling Bangladesh Awami League (AL) president Hasina already announced that the next general elections would be held next December next and the election commission said it was preparing to announce the polls schedule in October.

Shortly after the reconstitution of the commission in early 2017, the election organising authorities published a roadmap towards holding the next polls with a pledge that it would leave no stone unturned in order to ensure that every voter can cast their votes fearlessly and the votes are counted.

In order to implement its roadmap, it also held dialogue with election stakeholders last year and sorted out the dialogue recommendations into three categories - political, constitutional and election commission affairs - for smooth implementation of them. The commission published a booklet containing the recommendations as well.

But the commission took no steps to implement any significant recommendations as yet.

Most of the stakeholders said the EC, for all practical purposes, is currently at a stage where it was one year ago, with only three months in hand to announce the schedule for the crucial next general elections.

Against this backdrop, election and political analysts now doubt its capacity for making the next polls free and fair. They are also raising question if the EC had held the dialogue really with a desire for making the polls free and fair.

Furthermore, chief election commissioner KM Nurul Huda’s recent remark that he cannot guarantee there there would be ‘no irregularities’ in the general elections creates further doubt about the EC’s capacity and willingness to hold a fair election. 

Election experts said such remarks would erase people’s confidence in the election commission. Many of them also said the CEC’s remarks just exposed the commission’s helplessness and the reality on ground.

Again, CEC’s remarks brought the undercurrent feud among the election commissioners to the fore.

In the dialogue, stakeholders spoke both in favour of and against deployment of armed forces during the general elections, use of electronic voting machine and introduction of ‘no-vote’, but the commission took initiative to address those recommendations by just saying, “those are political affairs and should be dealt with by the political leadership”.

And the commission identified six recommendations - like dissolution of parliament before the polls, reinstatement of non-party caretaker government and bringing some key ministries under the EC during the polls - as constitutional ones. EC said it has nothing to do with these affairs.

Although the commission identified some 34 recommendations, including reform of electoral rules and ensuring a level-playing field for all, to be their own affairs, the commission took no effective measures to implement those recommendations.

Election commissioner Rafiqul Islam, however, told Prothom Alo that the commission already accomplished basic work like delimitation of electoral constituency and preparation of voters’ roll.

“Those were the recommendations of the dialogue. Some of the recommendations were about reaching political consensus and constitutional affairs. These issues shall be addressed by the government,” said the election commissioner.

He said amendment of the electoral rules is a continuous process. “Electoral rules are complicated ones and that’s why it is taking some time.”

People concerned said issues like deployment of troops in the polls and use of EVM got the topmost priority in the dialogue. And the country’s two rival political camps are at loggerheads over these issues, but the commission did not inform the government yet as to what it wants with regard to these affairs.

Former caretaker government adviser M Hafizuddin Khan, who joined the EC dialogue, said it is not known yet if the commission considers the dialogue recommendations to be taken into cognisance even.

“If the next polls are held with the current parliament remaining intact as per the existing constitutional provision and if the EC thinks that this will stand on the way of holding a free and fair election, it should officially inform the government about its concerns. The EC shouldn’t avoid the issue saying that it is not their cup of tea,” said Hafizuddin Khan.

He alleged the commission has displayed an ‘indifferent attitude’ during the past local government elections. “And no visible initiatives are also seen as yet about to makinh the polls free and fair.”

The recommendations that the EC identified to be their affair include amendment of electoral rules, creating a level-playing field for all, curbing pre and post election violence, containing muscle power and black money, reining in election expenditures and maintaining law and order during the general elections.

Election observers said the commission has taken no steps to address these issues either, which was evident in the recently-held local government polls.

In the elections to Khulna, Gazipur, Rajshahi, Sylhet and Barishal city corporations, the commission totally failed to ensure a level-playing field for all sides and even failed to ensure its authority over the law enforcement agencies.

The police’s role overshadowed the role of the election commission in these elections. The commission was not even seen taking any effective measures to rein in the muscle power, to stop rampant breach of electoral codes and to contain election expenditures in the local polls.

Talking to Prothom Alo, opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said no progress is seen in implementing the dialogue recommendations although one year elapsed.

“Things have regressed rather. In the recently-held local government polls, the commission has worked the way the government wanted. It has miserably failed to provide the voters and the candidates with security.”

Ruling AL is, however, saying that the election commission is working towards ensuring a free and fair election.

“The dialogue was held on the general elections, even though issues of local elections came for discussion in the dialogue. AL had proposed for using EVM and the EC used EVMs in the local polls on experimental basis,” AL presidium member Faruk Khan told Prothom Alo.

He said the election commission is making progress in all of the election affairs including voters’ roll. “Although criticism is there over some of the issues, the election commission is taking necessary steps to create an enabling environment for the general elections keeping such criticism in view.”

Former election commissioner M Sakhawat Hussain who joined the EC’s dialogue said the key recommendations of the dialogue were amendment of the Representation of People Order (RPO) and strengthening of the election commission.

“The EC’s booklet mentions only who gave recommendations and what these recommendations are, but the EC didn’t say what it will do to address those recommendations. We find no progress in implementing what we had expected from the dialogue,” added the former election commissioner.

*The article originally published in Prothom Alo print edition is rewritten in English by Abu Taib Ahmed