Barring war criminals from polls may remain key issue

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Demands for barring war criminals from contesting in elections and for disqualifying anti-liberation forces including Jamaat-e-Islami from getting registered as parliamentarian parties with the Election Commission (EC) are likely to feature dominantly in the upcoming second round of electoral reform talks between the commission and political parties.

In the wake of recent boost in the demands’ popularity, the EC is now considering inclusion of a permanent ban on war criminals from contesting in parliamentary elections in the proposed electoral law, sources in the EC said.

The commission already included provisions in the proposed law for local government polls disqualifying war criminals from contesting in elections to city corporations and municipalities. Similar provisions will also be incorporated in laws for elections to union and upazila parishads, the sources added.

“A person will be permanently disqualified from contesting in parliamentary elections if he or she is convicted by a national or international tribunal of war crimes,” an EC source said referring to the commission’s latest plan for electoral laws.

But the EC is still searching for ways to deal with another very popular demand for disqualifying anti-liberation forces from getting registered with the commission as parliamentarian parties, as the demand is most likely to be raised again by political parties during the second round of talks set to begin next week, the sources said.

The EC however might insert a condition in the proposed rules for registering parliamentarian parties, saying any party with any war criminal in any of its posts will be disqualified from being registered with the commission, hinted an EC source.

Senior leaders of political parties, who are likely to represent their parties at the talks, yesterday said they will undoubtedly reiterate the demands and will insist on knowing the EC’s position on the issues.

As many as 14 out of the 16 political parties, that participated in the first round of the talks between September and November of last year, strongly demanded that war criminals be barred from contesting in the polls and anti-liberation forces like Jamaat be disqualified from getting registered as parliamentary parties.

Except the issues of eligibility of war criminals and anti-liberation forces to contest in polls, there is no major difference between the electoral reform proposals of the EC and the political parties, said officials of the EC Secretariat, who have been working to compile the proposals of the political parties on reforms.

The EC yesterday started reviewing the proposals of the parties and forming its positions on them. The commission passed a hectic day yesterday meeting twice in the morning and in the afternoon.

“We will have to take a decision considering the opinions of the majority of parties on the issues, before finalising the electoral reform proposals,” an EC source said.

According to the electoral roadmap announced by the EC on July 15 of last year and the proposed law for parliamentarian parties’ registration, political parties intending to contest in parliamentary polls must get registered with the commission within June meeting some criteria for it.

Soon after the country’s independence, the constitution, written in 1972, imposed a ban on forming political parties based on religion, revoked political rights of war criminals disqualifying them from contesting in polls and from even being registered as voters. Trials of war criminals were also on in special tribunals.

But after the August 15, 1975 regime change, the erstwhile military ruler Ziaur Rahman stopped the trials of war criminals and amended the constitution restoring war criminals’ political rights.

The demands for trials of war criminals and for barring them from contesting in polls got momentum again since the current military backed non-party caretaker government assumed state power.

With the EC planning to open the second round of electoral reform talks with political parties, senior leaders of the parties are saying they will strongly argue for barring war criminals from the polls and they believe that the EC will not be able to ignore the opinions of the majority.

Contacted by The Daily Star yesterday Awami League (AL) Presidium Member Suranjit Sengupta said his party’s central working committee will meet to discuss a possible agenda for the electoral talks with the EC after getting a formal invitation from the commission.

“In fact there is no development in the direction of barring war criminals from polls and in the direction of disqualifying anti-liberation forces from getting registered as parliamentarian parties. We will certainly raise the issues at the talks,” said the leader of AL which has been demanding for a long time revocation of war criminals’ political rights.

Talking to The Daily Star yesterday Jatiya Party Acting Chairman Anisul Islam Mahmud said, “We will reiterate our demands for barring war criminals from polls and for disqualifying anti-liberation forces from getting registered as parliamentarian parties.”

Workers Party President Rashed Khan Menon said they already urged the EC categorically to include provisions in the proposed electoral law barring war criminals from contesting in polls and disqualifying anti-liberation forces from getting registered with the commission.

“We will insist the Election Commission to clarify its position on the issues,” Menon said.

Apart from AL, both factions of Jatiya Party, Workers Party, the Communist Party of Bangladesh, Liberal Democratic Party, Krishak Sramik Janata League, both factions of Jatiya Samjtantrik Dal, Ganotantrik Party, National Awami Party and three other parties asked the EC to bar war criminals from contesting in polls and to disqualify Jamaat and other anti-liberation forces from getting registered as parliamentarian parties. Following the raising of the issues by dialoguing parties, those became widely popular bringing tremendous pressure on the EC for considering the matter positively.

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