Bangladesh News

Government officials who resigned or retired after November 2005 will not be able to contest the parliamentary election planned for December, according to new electoral laws.

“A person shall be disqualified for election as or for being a member of [parliament], if he has resigned or retired from the service of the republic or of any statutory public authority or of the defence service, unless a period of three years has elapsed since the date of his resignation or retirement,” reads an ordinance promulgated by the president Tuesday.

Titled ‘Representation of the People (Amendment) Ordinance, 2008′, the ordinance brings into force with immediate effect a number of amendments to the Representation of the People Order, 1972.

The Election Commission (EC) has repeatedly said it is working to hold the long-stalled general election in December and announce the schedule by the end of October or early November.

If it sticks to its plans, those who had been in services a little less than three years back will have to let go of the ambition to be a lawmaker.

The same will apply to a person who had been holding the post of chief executive of a non-government organisation.

In the event of removal or dismissal or compulsory retirement, a civil or military bureaucrat will have to wait for five years since the termination of job to contest the polls.

The restrictions come in the wake of allegations that many bureaucrats in the past had exploited their office to influence the voters with a view to running in parliamentary polls right after retirement.

Those who retired from public or defence services after early 2006 will not be able to vie for presidency since the constitution says a person shall not be qualified for presidential election if he is not eligible for election as a Member of Parliament.

According to the constitution, election to the office of president is held within 30 days of the first sitting of parliament. Iajuddin Ahmed’s term as the president has already expired.

If the national election is held as planned in December the presidential election might be held by February or even earlier.

Unlike before, civil and military bureaucrats who have just retired will not be appointed advisers to the caretaker government as the constitution says a person shall not be qualified to be an adviser if he/she is not fit to seek election as a lawmaker.

This apart, the new electoral laws bar those defaulting on utility service bills from running in parliamentary election or continuing as lawmakers.

They say a person shall be adjudged disqualified for election as or being a Member of Parliament, if he/she has failed to pay bills for telephone, gas, electricity, water or any other government service despite being served with a “notice of three months or more from the date of submitting nomination paper as a defaulter”.

The new provision will force the lawmakers to pay their telephone bills regularly. In the past, a large number of lawmakers had defaulted on telephone bills even after receiving allowances from the state.

The new laws have made registration with the EC mandatory for a political party willing to participate in parliamentary polls. They also have some provisions seeking to ensure financial transparency in election expenditures.

All major political parties will have to amend their constitutions to fulfil the criteria laid down for registration. As per the new provisions, they will have to sever relations with their front organisations and dissolve overseas units.

The laws are the result of efforts over seven long years towards registration of the political parties and curbs on election of the just retired bureaucrats and utility services bill defaulters.

In 2001, the move of the then EC to that end fell flat in the face of opposition from the political parties. However, the qualifications they proposed for registration were not stringent like the present ones.

With promulgation of the ordinance amending the Representation of People Order (RPO) 1972, the EC got back the authority to cancel candidatures for gross violation of electoral laws and misconduct by candidates. The EC was given the authority before the last parliamentary polls, but the then caretaker government scrapped the power again succumbing to pressure from the political parties.

To bear on the war criminals, the laws debar from parliamentary election a person convicted of war crime by a national or international court or tribunal.

The new provisions in the RPO also introduce the option for ‘no vote’ in the parliamentary polls. Voters will be allowed to cast no vote if they find none of the contestants eligible to represent them.

If the number of no-votes exceeds 50 percent of the vote in any constituency, the returning officer shall cancel the election and a fresh proceeding shall commence.

The amendments to the RPO also say a person shall not be allowed to contest from more than three constituencies. Before, an individual could run for five seats all together.

The caretaker government however has retreated from its plan to incorporate a new provision barring from parliamentary election those convicted by a trial court of criminal offences involving moral turpitude.

Currently, for lack of specific legal provisions an individual convicted by a trial court of such offences can participate in elections with their appeal against the conviction pending with higher courts.