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Download PDF Three major political parties — Awami League (AL), BNP and Jatiya Party — must amend their constitutions severing ties with at least 17 of their auxiliary organisations in order to be registered with the Election Commission (EC), according to the planned new electoral law.
The parties will also have to scrap from their constitutions the provision that allows them to have overseas chapters.
A new provision in the electoral law will make it mandatory for political parties to be registered with the EC for becoming eligible to contest in the parliamentary poll.
The council of advisers to the caretaker government on Wednesday approved a number of proposed amendments to the Representation of People’s Order (RPO) 1972.
But successful implementation of the proposed laws remains uncertain as major political parties have been vehemently opposing the restriction on having auxiliary organisations of students and professionals.
They said the new provisions are undemocratic and contradictory to the spirit of the constitution that ensures the people’s freedom of speech, conscience, and association.
According to the approved proposals, political parties seeking registration must declare in their constitutions that they will not have auxiliary organisations of students, teachers and workers, and neither will they have overseas chapters.
Once the new law is enacted, no political party will be allowed to contest in parliamentary elections unless it is registered with the EC, and a registration may be cancelled if a party violates the provisions of the amended electoral law.
After the new law is promulgated as an ordinance by the president, the EC will invite applications for registration from political parties. According to the plan, the EC might begin the process of registration by the middle of this month.
Parties seeking registration will have to amend their constitutions in line with the criteria before submitting applications.
Once the parties’ links with their existing student and professional wings are severed, they will lose control over those auxiliary organisations, which currently implement party programmes.
AL will have to sever its links with at least six auxiliary organisations — Krishak League which is its farmer and peasant wing, Jatiya Sramik League its worker wing, Chhattra League its student wing, Awami Ainjibi Parishad the lawyer wing, Tanti League the weavers’ wing, and Swadhinata Chikitshok Parishad the physician wing.
According to the party constitution, AL central working committee determines the policies of auxiliary organisations. The party secretaries concerned supervise and coordinate the programmes of those organisations which are accountable to the central working committee through the secretaries.
Similarly, BNP will have to amend its constitution severing its ties with at least five organisations — Jatiyabadi Chhatra Dal, Jatiyatabadi Sramik Dal, Jatiyatabadi Krishak Dal, Jatiyatabadi Matshojibi Dal which is its fishermen wing, and Jatiyatabadi Tanti Dal.
The party constitution fully empowers the party chief to consider any organisation as an auxiliary of the party.
Jatiya Party (Ershad) will also have to amend its constitution severing ties with at least six organisations — Jatiya Krishak Party, Jatiya Sramik Party, Jatiya Ainjibi Federation, Jatiya Chhattra Samaj, Jatiya Matshojibi Party, and Jatiya Tanti Party.
After political parties sever their links with auxiliary organisations, the latter may continue their operations as independent entities with their own programmes, as the proposed new electoral law does not impose any restriction on their independent operations.
Legal experts however are skeptical about the success of the move as they think the new provisions might contradict the fundamental rights guaranteed by the constitution.
They said the constitution ensures the fundamental rights of freedom of movement, assembly, association, thought, conscience, and speech.
Under the state of emergency, the new electoral law might be enforced as the emergency automatically suspends the fundamental rights, they said.
But it might be difficult for the EC to enforce the restrictions on political parties, after the state of emergency is lifted, the experts added.
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