Revised RPO won’t be scrapped

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Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) ATM Shamsul Huda yesterday ruled out any possibility of scrapping the revised Representation of the People Order (RPO) that made registration with the Election Commission (EC) mandatory for political parties.

“Nothing will be left if the revised RPO is cancelled. If it is to be scrapped, why have we spent so much time on it,” the CEC said at a press briefing at the EC Secretariat conference room referring to the BNP-led four party alliance’s demand for repealing the revised RPO.

As part of electoral reforms, some new provisions were inserted in the RPO in August. The EC had been working on it since February last year.

As per the provisions laid down in the revised RPO, political parties willing to contest the parliamentary polls must get registered with the EC.

They must apply to the EC by October 15 for registration to be qualified for contesting the parliamentary polls slated for December 18.

But BNP and its allies Jamaat-e-Islami and Islami Oikya Jote rejected the revised RPO and demanded its cancellation. “I think the current provisions in the RPO are acceptable to all,” he said adding that he has information that all political parties are working to get registered with the commission.

In the face of political parties’ demand for providing them with adequate time to get registered with the EC, the commission on September 30 sent to the law ministry the proposals to ease the registration procedure.

If the revised RPO is amended according to the new proposals, political parties will not need to hold national councils to amend their constitutions for meeting the registration criteria.

Parties unable to hold councils can now get registered with the EC on making provisional changes to their constitutions. But their highest policymaking bodies must pass a resolution to have the changes approved at national councils within six months of the first session of the ninth parliament.

Asked whether the law ministry will relax the registration procedure further, Election Commissioner Brig Gen (retd) M Sakhawat Hussain said, “It will not be acceptable if the ministry does so without consulting with us.”

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