The election commission (EC) has proposed adding a provision to the law that would disqualify individuals declared fugitives by a court from contesting in the national parliamentary elections.
Along with this, the EC has proposed several other amendments to the Representation of the People Order (RPO), the law governing national elections.
Election commissioner Abul Fazl Md Sanaullah shared this information with journalists on Wednesday afternoon.
The election commission’s proposal was sent to the law ministry on Tuesday. EC officials stated that the ministry will review the proposal and then present it to the advisory council of the interim government. If approved by the advisory council, the amendments will be enacted through a presidential ordinance.
The recommendation to disqualify fugitive accused persons from elections was originally made by the election system reform commission.
At that time, however, the EC had disagreed with the proposal, arguing that such a provision could be misused for dishonest purposes and that political consensus was necessary before adopting it.
When asked why the EC is now supporting the proposal despite previously opposing it, Abul Fazl Mohammad Sanaullah explained that the election commission has since held discussions with the national consensus commission.
As a result of those discussions, the EC was convinced that including such a provision would be beneficial. He added that if the provision is misused in the future, it can be revised again as necessary.
The reform commission had also proposed that individuals accused by the International Crimes Tribunal be declared ineligible to contest elections. However, this recommendation was not included in the EC’s current proposal.