BNP to send letter seeking changes to RPO Ordinance draft: Salahuddin

The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) has raised objections to the draft of the Representation of the People Order (RPO) Amendment Ordinance recently approved by the advisory council of the interim government.

BNP standing committee member Salahuddin Ahmed said that the party would send letters to the government and the election commission (EC) requesting changes to the draft.

He revealed this information while speaking with journalists at his residence in Gulshan, Dhaka, on Friday afternoon.

The advisory council of the interim government on Thursday approved the draft of the RPO (Amendment) Ordinance, which includes a provision requiring political parties to contest elections under their own symbols, even if they participate as part of an alliance.

BNP standing committee member Salahuddin Ahmed said, “We had all agreed on many issues related to electoral system reforms during discussions between the election reform commission and the political parties. However, the draft of the electoral code of conduct and the RPO that has been submitted by the election commission through the law ministry includes changes that the BNP did not agree to.”

Mentioning that if parties within an alliance must contest under their own symbols, smaller political parties will not be encouraged to form alliances, he said, “Neither they (the smaller parties) agreed to this, nor did we. We don’t know why such a proposal was unilaterally raised by the election commission. They had sought our opinion on the draft of the RPO Ordinance, and we had already provided it.”

“We agree with most of the amendments that have been proposed in the ordinance. But we have never agreed on the issue of electoral symbols — that parties within an alliance cannot use a joint symbol other than their own. I think it needs to be reconsidered for the sake of fair politics and fair elections. We have already conveyed this from our party’s side, and we may also send a formal letter to the Election Commission and the law adviser,” said this senior BNP policymaker.

The approved draft also includes the armed forces—army, navy, and air force—within the definition of law enforcement agencies. As a result, members of the armed forces will be able to perform election duties at polling centers like the police, and no separate order will be required to deploy the three services for election duties.

In addition, the approved draft includes several other amendments, such as barring fugitive accused persons from contesting elections, making it mandatory for candidates to disclose their assets both at home and abroad, introducing a ‘no’ vote option if there is only one candidate in a constituency, expanding the election commission’s power to suspend polls, abolishing provisions related to electronic voting machines (EVMs), and requiring that all donations or contributions above Tk 50,000 be transacted through banks.

BNP has no objection to certain provisions, such as mentioning foreign assets in affidavits, including the armed forces in the definition of law enforcement agencies, disqualifying court-declared fugitive accused persons from contesting elections, and requiring bank transactions for donations or contributions exceeding 50,000 taka. Jamaat-e-Islami and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) have also raised no objection to these issues.

The 13th parliamentary election is expected to be held in the first half of February next year. The EC is likely to announce the election schedule in the first half of December. Before that, the government is bringing significant changes to the election-related laws.