The political field gets heated every five years as the election approaches. Political parties raise all types of demands. The pressure is mostly exerted by the two biggest political parties of Bangladesh. Thanks to the movements of these two parties, the country had a fair election back in 1991 and multi-party democracy was established. But even then, there was no discussion debate among people as to why the election commission must have a major and powerful role in a democratic election.
As a matter of fact, from the first election in 1973 to the fifth one in 1991, the EC remained hidden from public sight. Till then there was not much debate about the EC. After the fair election of 1991 the EC for the first time faced criticism following a controversial by-election at the Magura-2 constituency on 24 March 1994. People saw a farce in the name of an election due to the inaction of the commission. This lack of faith sustained for a few years. The role of EC in the elections under the partisan governments created only crisis in the politics of the country. We still have to pay the price.
The hapless surrender of EC to the arrogance of the ruling party at Magura gave birth to the demand for a non-partisan caretaker government. Although the next three elections were more acceptable under the non-partisan caretaker government, the system was abolished in the face of much political debates. The country went back to the election under a partisan government. Under this system the members of parliament retain their position until the new parliament is formed. Both the elections held under the partisan government created widespread controversy at home and abroad. The question was raised as to how far the EC is effective in any election under a partisan government.
The controversy and lack of trust in EC was one of the catalysts of the emergency of January 2007. People’s trust in the EC was regained after a more acceptable election in the next year. That trust plummeted in the 2014 and 2018 elections. The commission cannot shrug off that lack of trust that was created due to continuous political disagreements and conflicts.
Now a debate is on over the role of the EC ahead of the election, although the current election commission has been expressing their hope to make the next election acceptable. They are keeping the scope of discussion open with all. Even after some initial dialogues it seems the commission wants to keep on the discussion. But the question remains how the outcome of these discussions will help the commission. Everything depends on how the commission takes effective measures in light of these recommendations.
On 13 September the commission held a workshop titled on the expectations of the next election. In that workshop eight eminent journalists were present apart from myself. And the rest except one were all commissioners and senior officials of the commission. During the discussion on that day almost everyone tried to pinpoint the challenges and the problems of the commission. It was clear from the words of almost all participants that the promise of the government about a credible and inclusive election could not guarantee the participation of the opposition party that is outside of the parliament. This is a huge concern because the party has almost 37-40 percent of votes and they formed the government thrice. If they do not take part in the election the credibility of the election will be questioned.
Another question is being raised in the current situation. The commission cannot bring any political party to the election legally. But can’t they play a role with sincerity ? Obviously, it is a big challenge. I have made some recommendations about how the big challenges are and how they may be tackled regarding the conduct of elections and its management. According to me, the biggest and the most complex challenge regarding the conducting of an election is the recruitment of the government workforce at field level and holding a a credible and inclusive election by them.
A big part of the staff responsible for the election are the returning officers, presiding officers, polling officers and a large chunk of the law enforcing agencies. They have been fallen into the maze of politics. These government officials have profound loyalty to the government and ruling party. They forget that as the officials of government they cannot be supporters of any party or government. Therefore, they cannot give speeches like any supporter of a partisan government. Such speech is transgression to the regulations of the government, especially ahead of the election.
Unfortunately, we have been observing this tendency often. Recently many officials of the administration and police are making political speeches. A recent example is the speech of a deputy commissioner (DC) of an important district. The credible and fair election depends on such officials of a district. The way he gave a political speech ahead of the election that not only embarrassed the EC but also the government. Maybe all the government officials are alike. But the attitude of some DCs present in a meeting called by EC a few months ago was unacceptable.
Usually, the DCs have been appointed as returning officers in all the elections so far. If the EC does not take any other action, then the field level elections may be held under their responsibility in the next elections as well. If the commission wants it can not only legally appoint more than one returning officer in a district but it also has the right to endow them magisterial powers.
One of my recommendations was to ensure the strong authority of the EC at the field level. There were some other recommendations which all are under the jurisdiction of the EC and legal. The other participants who were present did not disagree with my recommendations. The speakers criticised the fact that some of the field level government officials are giving various speeches ahead of the election. At the same time the speakers advised the EC to let them know their legal and moral power to the appropriate ministries.
Within a few hours of that day's discussion, the commission sent a letter to the officials of the relevant ministries of the government to refrain from such behaviour. Surely this step will be helpful for the future activities of the EC. The government has already withdrawn an official following the rules of the commission.
The current EC obviously has to face many challenges. None of ECs in the past had to face such challenges. Yet, we want to keep faith that the commission will fulfill its responsibilities by rectifying the past mistakes. Even the chief election commissioner hopes so.
Dr. M Sakhawat Hossain is an election analyst, former army officer and senior research fellow (NSU) of SIPG. [email protected]
This article appeared in the print and online edition of Prothom Alo and has been rewritten for the English edition by Syed Faiz Ahmed