Bangladesh News

The caretaker government is yet to respond to the Election Commission’s (EC) proposals made more than a year ago to bar political parties from having overseas units and front organisations comprising students, teachers, employees, workers or members of any profession.

The EC sent the proposals to the law ministry in May last year requesting it also to repeal the existing provisions in the Political Parties Ordinance 1978 which allow parties to have front organisations, not party units.

But the law ministry could not yet take any steps in this regard as the government did not ask it to do so, officials in the ministry said.

Against this backdrop, the EC has requested President Iajuddin Ahmed and Chief Adviser Fakhruddin Ahmed to make the proposed amendments to the ordinance as soon as possible, EC sources said.

Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) ATM Shamsul Huda and two election commissioners made the request when they met the president and the chief adviser on Wednesday.

“For the sake of holding the next parliamentary election in a free and fair manner, the ordinance should be amended as soon as possible,” the CEC said after their meeting with the president.

Almost all those political parties that participated in the electoral reform talks with the EC agreed with its proposals concerning overseas units and front organisations of parties, he said. “It is a major achievement at the dialogue.”

Only one or two parties opposed the move to bar overseas units, Huda mentioned.

EC officials pointed out that until the political parties ordinance is amended incorporating new provisions and repealing some existing ones, it would not be possible to bar all political parties from having overseas units and front organisations.

Explaining this, they said the proposed electoral laws would be applicable only to parties that will get registered with the EC. As per the EC-proposed criteria for registration, around 20 parties are eligible for registration.

So, the parties not registered with the EC will have scope to have overseas units and front organisations.

In its amendment proposals, the EC said, “No political party shall form or recognise any organisation or body as its affiliated or associated body, if the organisation or the body is formed by (a) the students or teachers of any educational institution (b) the employees or labourers of any financial, commercial or industrial institution or establishment (c) the members of any profession”

The proposals further said, “No political party shall establish its office or branch or committee, by whatever name it may be called, in any country other than Bangladesh.”

Once the ordinance is amended in line with the EC proposals, political parties will have to amend their constitutions to de-link their units and front organisations from them, an EC official noted.