Participation in elections must not be discouraged

Editorial
Prothom Alo illustration

The Election Commission has sought applications from political parties to register in order to take part in the 12th parliamentary election. We want to consider the move positively. A notification from the EC last Thursday called for the application under the Article 90(ka) of the Representation of the People Order, 1972 (RPO) from the parties who are eligible as per the Political Parties Registration Act-2008.

Many political parties, other than 39 registered ones, exist in the country and are active in politics and interested to contest the next general elections. Leaders of these parties in the past took part in elections as independent candidates as their parties were unregistered.

The interested parties can apply for registration within 29 August. That gives them three months before submitting their applications.

Among the three conditions stipulated by the EC, the applicants will have to secure at least one parliament seat with its electoral symbol since the independence of Bangladesh or show the proof of securing five per cent of total votes cast in the constituencies in which its candidates took part in any parliamentary election. It would not be tough for an old political party to meet these requirements.

The other requirement is the party that wants to get registered must have offices at least in one-third of the administrative districts, and offices at least in 100 upazilas . It should be considered carefully that how realistic these requirements are for the new political parties that could not participate in any election under their own symbol. It is not acceptable if any party resort to any ruse to meet these requirements. A certain party may not have organisational activities in the whole country but have a strong position in any given region. But according to the EC rules, they would not be able to get registered.

The EC also asked political parties to submit constitutions, election manifestos (if any), regulations (if any), party logo and flag, a list of members of the party’s central executive or other equivalent committee and the latest statement of bank account of the party. These conditions are acceptable since these are crucial for the transparency of a political party.

Surprisingly, the last EC under Nurul Huda did not give registration to many political parties although they fulfilled the requirements. They also flouted the High Court’s directives regarding this. It is clear that the Nurul Huda commission blocked the registration of many parties intentionally.

The current EC has declared that they want to hold a free, fair and participatory election. If such is their actual wish, they must not be biased towards any party. It is expected that all the parties that can fulfil the requirements will be registered. The goal of registering political parties is to ensure transparency and accountability in the electoral process. No party should be harassed, obstructed or discouraged to hold political activities in the name of registration.