The President’s dialogue with registered political parties on the formation of a controversy-free Election Commission (EC) is set to turn into a fiasco unless they can arrive at a consensus on different issues, including the search committee, experts opined. Experts claimed that the functionality of the dialogue largely depends on the consensus of the proposals of the political parties, as different parties have different interests. They said that both the ruling party and the Opposition parties have to be more flexible for the formation of a controversy-free commission.
They also said that as the commission is selected by a search committee, the names of the people in the search committee should be disclosed in order to ensure transparency.
The formation of the EC has so far been done through a search committee orchestrated by the President, which has given rise to plenty of controversy.
Some political parties, including the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and Jatiya Party (JP), are now demanding the formation of the EC in accordance with Article 118 of the Constitution. However, when these parties were in power, they did not bother to make any changes in the system.
The demand for the change at the eleventh hour is quite difficult to fulfil, especially since the term of the current EC is slated to end in February next year.
The enactment of law is largely dependent on the goodwill of the ruling party Awami League (AL). Such willingness can hardly be expected right now when the AL did not feel the necessity to make the change in the previous three terms that it has been in power.
The only remaining way for the controversy-free formation of a new EC would be largely dependent on mutual consensus amongst the 40 registered political parties. In the absence of

any specific law, the President forms the search committee after consultation with the political parties, especially with the ruling party.
As the President’s function largely depends on the government, the ruling party has greater opportunity to influence the formation of the EC.
There was very little controversy regarding the EC formation in 1990, 1999, and 2007 under the caretaker government. The rest of the ECs, however, were formed under the will of the government while the President merely approved the appointments.
The Justice AKM Sadeq-led EC, formed before the parliamentary election on 15 February 1996, was dissolved within a year under the pressure of the political parties.
Former chief of the Election Commission (CEC) MA Aziz, appointed on 23 May 2005, also resigned within 18 months under the political pressure.
Another former CEC Justice Sultan Hossain Khan resigned within 10 months of appointment on 17 February 1990 when the autocratic government led by HM Ershad was dissolved in 1990.
Another former CEC, Justice Abdur Rouf, also resigned following a by-election in Magura, which was notorious for massive vote-rigging.
Former CEC Mohammad Abu Hena resigned on 8 May 2000 when the AL requested him to hold upazila parishad polls across the country; Hena refused to sanction the polls as the general elections were to be held within a year.
MA Sayed was appointed as the CEC on 23 May 2000. Though the BNP raised objections against him at the outset, the party later accepted him when it came to power in 2001 under the BNP-Jamaat alliance.
Out of the 11 CECs, seven had been judges till 1996. Among the five other CECs, one was Justice MA Aziz, while the remaining were from other government services.
The incumbent CEC Kazi Rakibuddin Ahmad was appointed on 9 February 2012 and his commission was selected by the search committee.
Former CEC ATM Shamsul Huda said: “The President has the jurisdiction to appoint the EC, as per the Constitution. As there is no law, it is done through a search committee. But the committee should be controversy-free. The names of the committee members should be disclosed so that the stakeholders can know their full identities.”
He added that there should be a permanent and acceptable legal method for the appointment of the EC.
Nazmul Ahsan Kalimullah, Chairman of the National Election Observation Council (JANIPOP), said: “Different political parties have different interests in the formation of the EC. It’s good for the political parties to do their homework on the issue. But everything depends on the consensus of the parties.”
Regarding the enactment of the law, he said: “We did not see the political parties showing much interest in this regard when they were in power.”
As part of the dialogue, the BNP met the President yesterday with its 13-point set of proposals.Other political parties like Jatiya Party, Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), and Krishak Shramik Janata League along with Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (JASAD) will discuss the issue with the President on December 20, 21, and 22 respectively. The other political parties would also meet the President in phases, with the hope of getting a controversy-free EC, which is important for holding free and fair polls.