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Citizens' body wants CEC, commissioners to quit now

The Citizens' Committee 2006, a platform of civil society members, said (July 17, 2006) immediate resignation of the chief election commissioner (CEC) and other commissioners can help remove uncertainty over the next general election.

So, they should stand down in the interest of the nation, it observed.

"Election Commission (EC) is a constitutional body and the CEC should be a person respected by all. But activities of the present commission have rather been suspicious. So, it'd be better for them to go and help remove uncertainty and restore public confidence in the commission," M Mujibul Huq, former cabinet secretary and a member of the committee, told a press briefing at the Jatiya Press Club.

It has to be ensured that the EC can work independently, transparently, reliably and with neutrality, the committee said adding that the EC should have a secretariat of its own, which would be independent of the Prime Minister's Office.

Speaking at the briefing, ASM Shahjahan, former adviser to the caretaker government, said there had been widespread public concern over some moves by the EC, which in some cases had to make a U-turn. "There exists a complete lack of confidence in the Election Commission and it needs to be changed," he noted.

Devoted, determined, qualified and upright persons should be appointed as CEC and election commissioners so that they could remain above controversy and command respect and confidence of the people, observed M Syeduzzaman, former finance minister.

Professor Anisuzzaman said the role and activities of the EC figured prominently in the regional dialogues. Besides, the discussants attached great importance to the voter list for the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT).

Professor Mahmuda Islam said the activities of the CEC and EC have raised questions among the people and that is why there should be an immediate change.

The committee was formed with Professor Rehman Sobhan as its convener on March 20 following a dialogue organised by the CPD, the Daily Star and the Prothom Alo.

It has organised eight regional dialogues in Mymensingh, Jessore, Comilla, Barisal, Sylhet, Rangamati, Chittagong and Rangpur. Around 2,500 people participated and of them, 575 spoke at those dialogues.

On the basis of the dialogues, the committee has prepared a list of proposals for necessary electoral and political reforms, said Syeduzzaman.

Democracy within the political parties should be encouraged. Decision-making, leadership scrutiny at different levels and nominations should go through a participatory process, he said, reading out the list.

A person aspiring to parliament should have party membership at the local level and can get the nomination only after being active in local politics for at least three years, said the noted economist citing from the proposals.

As the opposition political parties have reservations about the chief of the next caretaker government, he said, the citizens' committee has no opinion in this regard.

Referring to the constitution, Syed Manzur Elahi, former adviser to the caretaker government, said there is no mention about the age of the caretaker government chief but it has been stated that it should not exceed 72 years.

The government raised the age limit for chief justice to 67 from 65 but it did not up the age limit for all the public servants, causing controversy, he said adding that things like this should not be done on an ad hoc basis.

For registration before the election, political parties should submit a copy of the party constitution, names of the party leaders, election manifesto, minutes of the meetings where election manifesto and party candidates were finalised, audit report and necessary information about sources of the party's finance, he said.

On a comment made by the leader of the opposition that citizens' committee is conspiring against democracy, Syeduzzaman explained that only the political parties could be the driving force behind a democratic system. She would be the right person to answer why she had made such remarks, he added.

He said the committee has plans to sit down with the major political parties.

Debapriya, member secretary of the committee, said they will send formal letters to the leaders of two major political parties.

Deputy speaker of the parliament should be nominated from an opposition political party and chairperson of the Public Accounts Committee should also be a lawmaker belonging to the opposition, recommended the committee.

It also suggested that the members of the parliamentary standing committees and their chairpersons should be chosen in proportion to the parliamentary seats of the parties.

Registration of the political parties interested to participate in the election should be made compulsory, it said adding that the members of parliament should make laws and look into whether laws are enforced but they must not be involved in the development and administrative works.

They can however draw attention of the administration and ministries concerned to the problems of their constituencies.

Public servants should not be allowed to contest an election before three years have gone since their retirement, Syeduzzaman said adding that there are many bad examples in this regard.

Explaining the issue, Mujibul Huq said the present system allows a public servant to exploit his or her position for political purposes and the situation is not transparent at all. "Things can improve if there is a gap of at least three years," he added.

Professor Abdullah Abu Sayeed said these recommendations are not merely of the citizens' committee, rather they are from the people of the country.

People are worried about the existing political crisis, he said adding that politicians themselves are not happy with the present political environment.

Debapriya said political reforms are needed along with electoral reforms. The committee will hold a series of dialogues in Dhaka next month to take experts' opinions and it will also organise a national conference in November.

Professor Rehman Sobhan, convenor of the committee, M Hafizuddin Khan, former adviser to the caretaker government, Dr Debapriya Bhattacharya, executive director of the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) and Laila Rahman Kabir, former president of Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI), also spoke on the occasion.

Copied from The Daily Star website (Tuesday, July 18, 2006)

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