BNP needs to amend its constitution

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The Election Commission (EC) will not register BNP unless the party amends its constitution to ensure practice of democracy within itself, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) ATM Shamsul Huda yesterday said.

“We have carefully examined the constitution of BNP. The party should apply for registration after amending its constitution,” Huda said at the electoral reforms talks with the Workers Party of Bangladesh at the EC Secretariat conference room.

“I think a few other parties will also have to amend their constitutions to get registered with the Election Commission,” the CEC said. Without naming these parties, he said, “They talk about democracy but do not practise it within their parties.”

Referring to the present stance of Jatiya Party (Ershad), the CEC said the acting chairman of the party has asked the EC to complete the electoral reforms soon so that the party can modify its constitution in line with the reforms.

The Workers’ Party asked the EC not to register the anti-Liberation and communal forces like Jamaat-e-Islami and other political parties based on religion as per the commission’s proposed rules for registration.

In reply the CEC said the EC will examine the constitutions of all parties when they officially apply for registration, which is mandatory for contesting the polls.

The constitutions of BNP and Jatiya Party, the two parties that have run the country during most of the last 36 years since liberation, provide their chiefs with absolute authorities to run the parties as per their desire. This has left few scopes for practising democracy within the parties. The chiefs of the two parties appoint other party office bearers and are empowered to expel any one from the organisations at any time.

Both the BNP and Jatiya Party were founded by military rulers Ziaur Rahman and HM Ershad.

The constitution of Awami League, another major political party, provides sufficient scopes to practise democracy within the party, but party senior leaders do not allegedly follow the constitution in running the party and rather empower the party chief in taking any crucial decision.

Widespread allegations of financial irregularities against all major political parties have recently become a burning issue since there is no accountability in collecting and spending the party fund.

Against this backdrop, the EC has moved to ensure practice of democracy within the parties through being registered with it. The proposals regarding registration say the office bearers of a party will have to be elected directly by party councillors.

A registered party will have to maintain accounts of its income and expenditure and will have to submit annual audit reports to the EC, say the proposals, adding that a registered party will have to follow its constitution in carrying out activities.

CEC Huda said on receiving registration applications from political parties, the EC will examine their constitutions to see if they contain the elements stipulated by the commission to ensure inner democracy.

“Currently, the commission does not have most of the parties’ constitutions. We will ask for the constitutions from them when they will officially apply for registration. Besides, when we sit again with them next month we will ask the parties to correct their constitutions in line with our reforms,” Huda added.

Referring to the scrutiny of the BNP constitution to resolve the dispute between the two factions over getting EC invitation for talks, Huda said the EC only carefully examined the party’s constitution.

In an oblique reference to the expulsion of Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan from the post of BNP secretary general and also from the party, he said a person who had been engaged in the party for the last 12 years was expelled without any notice. “We do not want such culture,” he said.

Detained BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia expelled Bhuiyan and BNP joint secretary general Ashraf Hossain on September 3 on charges of engaging in conspiracy to break up the party by initiating reform moves without her consent.

Huda said according to the electoral roadmap the entire process of political parties’ registration with the EC will be completed by next June.

Explaining the reasons for introducing the registration system, he said the EC Secretariat has records of addresses of 168 political parties. “But more than half of these parties do not contest the elections. They use their names for getting political asylum abroad and selling their polling agents during parliamentary elections,” he said.

“The name only political parties will not be allowed to contest the elections any more,” Huda said.

Participating in the talks, the Workers’ Party demanded banning war criminals and anti-Liberation forces from the national elections.

“We do not want the commission to stop politics of Jamaat-e-Islami and other religion-based parties. We want the commission not to register the anti-Liberation and communal forces,” said Workers’ Party President Rashed Khan Menon, who led the ten-member party delegation to the talks.

“It is possible for the commission to disqualify Jamaat-e-Islami and other communal forces from being registered by only following the preamble of the constitution [of the country] and the commission’s proposals on registration,” Menon argued.

The proposals on party registration says the constitution of a political party intending to get registered will have specific provisions to the effect that the party shall bear true faith and allegiance to the constitution of Bangladesh and it shall uphold the sovereignty, unity and integrity of Bangladesh. It also says a party will be considered disqualified for registration if there is discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste and sex in a political party and a possibility that religion and communal harmony may be destroyed by the name, flag and symbol of that political party.

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