EC Formation Law Is A Weapon to Come to Power: SHUJAN

The draft law on the formation of the Election Commission (EC) was tabled in Parliament in the form of a bill on Sunday. However, civil society and election experts see different reasons behind raising it.

They think that the draft of the Election Commission Appointment Act has been approved in the cabinet meeting and raised in the parliament in a very short time. It did not reflect the views of civil society. There are also some flaws in the law.

This came up at a virtual press conference titled 'Proposed Election Commission Appointment Act: Citizen Thought' organized by Citizens for Good Governance (SHUJAN) on Sunday (January 23) morning.

It further said that the present government is passing this flawed law to sort out the Election Commission with the persons of its choice to return to power.

Former Election Commissioner Brigadier (Retd.) Dr Sakhawat Hossain said the Election Commission may raise questions about the transparency of the draft recruitment law. Because there is no chance for anyone to know the names suggested by the search committee. Bigger than that, there are questions about the process by which it will send to the president.

"Our suggestion was that the names given by the search committee should have been accepted if they had been sent to the president after discussion in a parliamentary committee headed by the prime minister," he said. But instead, the law is being raised in Parliament. Doing so could make the law controversial.

Prominent lawyer Dr. Shahdin Malik said the type of search the current government would carry out is predictable. They will find the people sympathetic to the government. The President will nominate two citizens. Questions have also been raised about how this power of the President came suddenly.

"We do not know which 10 names are being sent to the president," he said. "Suddenly, an election commission is being formed in the name of five people."

Dr. Shahdin Malik said that the characteristic of authoritarian governments around the world is that they play elections in such a way that they win. The first step is to form an election commission of choice. It is being implemented through this law. The game is played with the election, it seems that the government party will win the next election.

He doubted that the law was being enacted to ensure that the current government wins. It would be a law to show people like the Digital Security Act. The purpose of the Digital Security Act was to provide security to citizens on digital platforms. On the contrary, the government is using that law as a weapon. The Election Commission will also use the law as a weapon for the government to come to power.

SHUJAN Secretary Dr. Badiul Alam Majumder said that even if the Election Commission could not hold a fair election, it could prevent a disputed election. They can take action while the election is going on. The government-made draft of the Election Commission Recruitment Act calls for 'search'. Is it 'search' to get names from political parties and Businessmen? He asked the question.

Environmental lawyer Syeda Rizwana Hasan said, "Our constitution speaks of neutrality." There has been talked of an independent election commission. There is no mention that the Election Commission will work independently through the draft law raised in the Parliament.

She said there must be a conviction to ensure fair, neutral, acceptable and participatory elections. With this law and search committee, it will never happen. The people will not accept this for long. Even if the law is passed, will we remain silent without voting year after year? Everyone has to come out of the illusory reality and work with the people as they are the source of all power.

SHUJAN president M Hafizuddin Khan said, "When the citizens submitted a draft law to the law minister, I heard they did not have time." Then when various political parties had a dialogue with the President, the law minister said there was no time. Suddenly the law was passed in the cabinet and raised in the parliament. The intention to pass a law in a hurry is not good. What they want to do in the future is clear. Our civil society needs to be more vocal against this."

SHUJAN's treasurer Syed Abu Naser Bakhtiyar Ahmed and executive member Justice Mohammad Abdul Matin also spoke at the press conference. Dilip Kumar Sarkar, the central coordinator of the organization, presented a written statement on behalf of SHUJAN.