Bangladesh News

The Election Commission (EC) yesterday announced that political parties must apply by October 15 to register with it on meeting a set of criteria.

Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) ATM Shamsul Huda made the announcement at a press briefing at the EC Secretariat.

New provisions incorporated in the Representation of People Order (RPO) lately make registration mandatory for the parties to contest the parliamentary polls.

They also stipulate a number of conditions for registration. Those include having provisions in the party constitution disallowing front organisations or chapters abroad.

The EC plans to wrap up the registration by October 30 and a few days after that, announce the schedule for the general election tentatively planned to be held in the third week of December.

Officially, the registration process will get underway with publication of a gazette notification on the registration rules today or tomorrow, said sources in the EC.

Immediately afterwards, the commission will publish a circular in the newspapers, inviting applications for registration.

The political parties will have around 50 days to complete preparations to meet the conditions for registration. It is less than half the time designated for registration in the EC’s electoral roadmap.

Major parties like Awami League (AL), BNP and Jatiya Party argue that the time limit is impractical in that it doesn’t allow them enough time to fulfil the conditions for registration.

They say they need at least four/five months to amend their constitutions to sever ties with the front organisations and elect new committees through national councils.

According to the revised RPO, the party constitutions must seek to ensure at least 33 percent women office bearers in committees at every level by 2020, and the organisations must be run according to their constitutions.

Most of the political parties have been opposing the registration prerequisites while some went on to accuse the caretaker government and the commission of attempting to pull rank on them.

In response to the allegation, CEC Huda yesterday said the EC never wanted to control the political parties.

“Registration is essential to bring discipline in politics,” he argued, explaining the provisions incorporated in the RPO.

He said it would ensure financial transparency within the parties. It will also help the parties avoid having to face disgruntled leaders running in elections.

As per the amended RPO, no-one will be allowed to file nominations without a letter of consent from the party general secretary.

Initially, a party will be allowed to issue more than one candidate with letters of consent. Later, during scrutiny it must inform the election officials of its final choice.

By that time, there would be no scope for the other ones to be independent candidates.

Referring to grievances aired by the political parties, the polls chief said, “We thought the registration would be better for all.”

He said most of the new provisions are based on consensus between the EC and political parties. The only exceptions are those introducing the option for no-vote, requiring the parties to cut themselves off from overseas chapters, and fixing a ceiling of up to Tk 15 lakh on a candidate’s election expenditure [depending on the number of voters].

Talking about the political parties’ displeasure at the time limit for registration, he said if they push a little harder they would be through with the preparations in time.

According to the electoral roadmap announced on July 15 last year, laws seeking electoral reforms were supposed to take effect by February and registration of the parties completed by June this year.

But the ordinance with amendments to the RPO was promulgated on August 19.

Huda said, “It’s unfortunate that we couldn’t follow the electoral roadmap with regard to registration.”

Replying to another query, he said he thinks the state of emergency will not deter the parties from holding national councils to amend their constitutions.

“If needed, we’ll ask the government to ensure an atmosphere conducive to organising councils. Any political party can inform us if they still face any difficulties,” he added.

At yesterday’s news briefing, the CEC explained the rationale for some of the new provisions.

About laws barring the loan and utility bill defaulters from election, he said: “We want our lawmakers to be the role models. How will a government ask people not to default on loans or utility bills if the country’s legislators are defaulters?”